Happy Memories
 

It is hard to believe that fifty years have passed since Bill and I moved into the Murray area of East Kilbride as a young married couple with one child. The first question we asked, of course, was: ‘Where is the church‘?’ Paradoxically, we found that we had a primary school, Our Lady of Lourdes, but the church building had still to be completed.


We had a parish priest, we were told, called Father McGurk and the chapel house was in Owen Avenue. In addition, we were informed by our neighbour that we also had an assistant priest, whom we would soon find out about. ‘You’ll hear him before you see him,’ said our source of information. We wondered what she meant. But we were soon to find the answer to that conundrum. It turned out to be a tall, handsome, young Irishman named Father Michael Ryan, who ran about the parish on his motorbike, kitted out in a black leather jacket and a helmet. This, of course, was the answer to our neighbour’s conundrum about hearing him before you saw him.


He was a very hard-working curate, always ready to listen and give good advice. Father Ryan loved to hear an amusing story and had such a hearty laugh. He always made time to visit the sick and, if help was required, he would be on your doorstep at the ready. We moved away from East Kilbride for a few years and, when we returned to live there, we found ourselves in St Bride’s parish with Father Ryan as our parish priest. He recognised us right away, remembering our names and our address in the Murray. What a memory! Father Ryan hadn’t changed that much then. But, like the rest of us, as the saying goes, he is getting on a bit.


Congratulations, Canon Ryan. You were called to God’s service as a very young man, and we pray that God will bless you with better health for your future years. We thank you for being such a wonderful priest and friend.



Jeanne Paterson