My Scandalous Priest

I turned five in 1992. I don't remember much from that June day, but I did manage to keep one gift. Father John Dedek gave me my first set of golf clubs and promised to hit the links with me when I was ready. He died before I could play past the putting green, and before I could keep up with the conversation. You know, the golf course chat about God, evil, and what we're supposed to make of it all.

Okay. I'll admit theology isn't as ordinary as the back nine, but I do regret not having the chance to learn more from that old priest. Fr. Dedek was the pastor of Saint Julian Eymard Catholic Church in Elk Grove Village, Illinois when I was growing up. He administered my childhood Sacraments: Baptism, Confession, and Communion. Dedek didn't normally come to parties, my grandmother and Dedek's longtime Director of Religious Education for St. Julian, recently told me, but he managed to come bearing gifts to mine. "People got the wrong opinion of him," Grandma said, hinting that there was another side to my childhood pastor.