This summer was a miraculous experience for me, I spent almost every Wednesday at Bishop Maginn High School planning Wish Lists and launching fund-raising projects with Mike Tolan, the principal, and Sue Silverstein, a major spirit at the school.

I am welcome there any time, but I thought I should pull back this week as school re-opens, they have plenty to do without worrying about me. I’m staying home in case they needed a rest from me.

I’ll be back next week. Still, I find that I miss it, today felt quite empty to me, we did so much, a quiet day seems strange, if necessary. I miss Asher’s soulful stories, Blue’s astrological watercolors, Issichar’s jokes, Sue’s sweet smile, Paw Lway Shee’s gorgeous portraits. I feel like it’s my school sometimes, which is neither true nor wise.

It was at Bishop Maginn that Red did the last therapy work of his productive life, so I miss that also.

I love the diversity and energy I see in this school photo, this is one part of America that I love and cherish. This is the melting pot, the tired yearning to be free and carve out a better future for themselves.

This is what our country has always offered. These are the people who need our help, and these are the people we can help. Finally, I’ve figured out how to do it the right way.

Sue Silverstein, who is a good and perceptive friend – we are shockingly alike in some ways – seemed to sense my malaise today, she sent me this photograph taken this morning of the incoming freshmen class.

Many of the things I take for granted are breaking down these days – stove, car, barn roof, crowns in my mouth. But I did not see my home flooded or the roof blown off in a hurricane last night. I did not see a child swept away by the tides.

My problems are quite small and temporal.

I wouldn’t wish to single anybody out, but there are at least six of those children are in that photo because we helped raise some tuition money for them. This is a wonderful thing to see. THANK YOU!

I’ll be there next week to meet some of the eight children who need tuition help – some are also in this photo. I am committed to helping them stay in this school, it is touched by the light, a place of great heart and support.

Seeing this photo has lifted me up, I can’t wait to meet more of these kids and their teachers, I’m eager to start my writing class in a few weeks, and I’m eager to support this school, an island of compassion and empathy in a world that sometimes seems harsh.

It needs to grow and prosper, this is the light that spreads, the answer to anger and bigotry.

Thanks for your support.

If you wish, you can support the tuition program by sending a tax-deductible donation to Mike Tolan, Principal, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202.

You can support school supplies and clothes and personal items for these students by sending a donation to me via Paypal, [email protected] or by check, Jon Katz, Bishop Maginn, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

(Note: A number of blog readers have raised concerns about the female students getting personal hygiene support. This is not something the girls will want to discuss with me, in my experience, many would have religious objections to doing that. They value their privacy and don’t want to be receiving these items at school or in public. We have worked out a system where the female students can tell their teachers and we can help them from there. The school is very much aware of this issue and is on it.)

I’m excited about the school year for Bishop Maginn. Eager to get back.