Greg Mitro

I'll be sending out friend requests from my new page very soon.

I am setting up a page that people will be able to access without having to go through Dianne's page. This will take some time, so please be patient with me.

Dianne and I just came home from church. I am hoping to be able to sing with the choir next weekend. I've had to miss the last few weeks due to some minor respiratory concerns, but I am feeling much better. I've missed singing with the choir not only because I enjoy doing it, but because I feel that that is my ministry

Dianne and I did the Fort 4 Fitness four mile run/walk on Saturday. I was just recovering from an upper respiratory infection, so I didn't go all out this time and Dianne had to help me some on the hills, especially the one on Packard Street, which is about a mile and a half south of downtown off of Calhoun Street. I finished the course in 1 hour 47 minutes. Dianne and I were featured in an article that appeared in the Journal-Gazette on Sunday. The article focused on people with disabilities who participated in the Fort 4 Fitness events. Dianne and I also made our first trip back to Ball State in a few years to watch a football game and see the campus. We went to Greek's Pizzaria, which was one of our favorite places to go when we were going to school there. It's hard to believe that it's been thirty years since I graduated with my bachelor's degree and twenty nine years since I graduated with my master's degree( I went straight through without any summer breaks).

I love to watch old movies, even from the silent era. I watched a silent movie today. It was called 'Orphans In The Storm' and it starred Lilian and Dorothy Gish. It was made in 1921. I had never seen it, but it brought back a memory for me. The Gish sisters play sisters who are orphans in France at the time of the French Revolution. Lilian Gish plays the sister who becomes blind, and the scene where Dorothy Gish has to tell her sister that she has gone blind is a scene that I had seen many many years ago. During my junior high and high school years, my brother was a member of the Blackhawk Film Society, which was dedicated to the preservation of classic films. The society also sold eight millimeter prints of some classics, and my brother bought several of them. One time, they sent a sampler reel of the films that they had for sale,, and the scene that I mentioned was on that reel. I can't believe that I still remember that! I still have one of the films, a Laurel and Hardy short called 'That's My Wife', so if you were wondering what happened to that one, Ed, I still have it. Anyway, this trip down memory lane has inspired me to post some old pictures of myself, which I will be doing in a few minutes.

Just a quick note here. Dianne and I have done some walking/pushing recently in preparation for the Fort 4 Fitness 4 mile Run/Walk that is at the end of this month. I also pushed myself all around downtown on Sunday during the 'Be a tourist in your own home town' day when you could gety into many attractions for free. I went to the Lincoln Tower(couldn't get up to the observation deck, but I was able to see the beautiful bank lobby), the Allen County Courthouse(for a tour, not anything else!),Artlink, which had a wonderful selection of Indiana outdoor landscapes on display,the Fort Wayne Museum of Art, which had an interesting exhibit of Avant-Garde Art, the History Center, which has some interesting exhibits on Fort Wayne/Allen County history, the Embassy Theater, which featured a session showing how to play the fabulous theater organ , the Botanical Conservatory, which had an exhibit on the gardens of New Orleans that was very pretty, Parkview Field,tour of the facility, and the Fort Wayne Visitor's Center. I did all of this in five hours time. I really enjoyed myself, but my arms were a bit sore the next day from all of the pushing.
Things are going well at the University Of Saint Francis. I am back working in the Writing Center, which I love to do. I must be doing something right, because they keep asking me back.
Dianne and I are heading to South Bend for a Marriage Encounter weekend tomorrow. It is supposed to be about how spouses can encourage one another to grow in their faith. Dianne and I received a gift of a free weekend at the mass that the diocese has for couples celebrating their 25th, 50th...anniversaries. I am really looking forward to the experience.

I went to a great bookstore yesterday. It's called Every Other Book. I'll tell you the reason that it is called that. There is a bookstore close to downtown that is called Hyde Brothers bookstore. As the name implies, it is owned by two of the Hyde brothers. When their inventory grew too big , they rented the building next to them and put some of their inventory in there. When their inventory became too big for both buildings, they decided to open another store, and every other book that they had went to the new store. Both stores are book lovers paradises, and Dianne always worries about how much damage I'm going to do to our finances when I go to either store. When I told Dianne that I was going yesterday because the store was having a 50% off sale,she said'Remember, we have to pay bills yet!' I told her, 'Don't worry, the deed to the house is safe'. My dad used to tell my mom not to take the deed to the house when she would go to one of the riverboats. Anyway, when I got to the store, I found that the aisles were so jam packed with books that I wouldn't have been able to get around in the store if it weren't for the wonderful help of the staff. They cleared all of the aisles for me so that I could browse to my heart's content. Even then, the aisles were barely wide enough for me to get through. Needless to say, I took my time and went down the aisles very carefully. I wound up getting what would have been $80 worth of books for $40, most of them hardbacks that were long out of print. Dianne didn't get too mad at me for that, especially when she saw that a few of the books were for her.

I can't believe that it's school time again! On Wednesday, I went to the all-school mass at the University of St. Francis. They always start the year with a mass for the whole University community. Bishop Rhoades was the celebrant, and he gave a powerful and beautiful homily on the purpose of catholic higher education. Father Andrew,from St. Vincent's, and Father David,the chaplain at the university concelebrated. After the mass, the president of the university,Sister Elise Kriss, came up to me and said that the university is going to be considering ways to make the Performing Arts Center,foprmerly the Scottish Rite auditorium, more accessable and she would like to have my input on that. I'm very appreciative that she would think of me as far as that is concerned,and I will be very glad to offer my suggestions. I start back to work on Wednesday, and I am happy that the semester has started because I love what I do.

Usually, the level of stupidity that people can descend to doesn't surprise me, but today was different. I had a meeting with my new boss at the University, and,as usual, I used the bus system to get there and back. On my way back, I had to change buses downtown. As I was waiting for the bus to come, a lady in a power wheelchair very similar to mine stopped next to me. We decided that since it was just a few minutes before the bus was to come,we decided to stay close to each other so that the bus driver could see that we both were wanting to catch that bus. As the bus was approaching, a man in a power wheelchair came speeding towards us, tried to cut in front of us, and hit the lady's wheelchair(she wasn't hurt). The man proceeded to yell and cuss the lady out for 'being in his way'. The bus driver saw what happened, and he told the man that,since the bus only had two spaces for people in wheelchairs, the bus company was sending out another bus to take him where he wanted to go. The man then starts cussing the bus driver out. After a few minutes of this, the bus driver tells him,'I don't have to take this. I'm reporting you to my boss'. The driver comes back with the head of the bus company, who tells the man,'We don't tolerate this type of behavior towards the driver or to any passengers. I am cancelling the other bus, and you will have to sign a paper stating that you will not act in this way in the future before you can ride any of our buses'. This brought even fouler language from the man. The head of the bus company said,'Okay. I'm instructing all of my drivers not to let you board the buses for the rest of the day, and if you try to board any of the buses, further consequences will follow'. I had to write a statement about what I saw, and after I did so, I saw the man still sitting there. The man looked at me and said,'You gonna say something, punk'. I calmly said,'I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed individual', and I boarded the bus.

Hello Everyone! Just thought I'd tell you about a few of our recent activities. Dianne and I went up to Northwest Indiana for a few days in late July. We went to Pierogi Fest in Whiting,and we had a ball! We met my cousin Sandy, my cousin Dave, and my second cousin Dave and his wife. We had a great time watching the parade. The parade is the craziest parade I've ever seen. If you are in any way familiar with eastern european/american culture you would love it. There are many videos of it pm you tube. Along with that, Dianne and I saw a polka band that we have been friends with for years, and we participated in the pierogi toss and eastern bloc jeopardy. We also saw a friend from St. Michael's church there and a friend who used to live in my grandma and grandpa Mitro's neighborhood. Dianne and I also revisited the Shrine of Christ's Passion in St. John while we were up there. It is such a m oving place, and a beautiful place to say a rosary at(right at the foot of the cross). I will give some more updates later.

Does anyone out there need mulch? Dianne and I asked for some mulch from the city, and they gave us way more than we could ever use(see photo). The mulch is free. Just come and take it away.

Dianne and I went to Pokagon State Park yesterday. We went hiking(in my case wheeling) on the park's 1 1/2 mile paved bike trail. Pokagon is one of three state parks that have a trail like that, and it was wonderful to be able to do it. We also went swimming in Lake James, which was quite welcome after doing the trail. It was a wonderful day.