Planning is prominent in the skill set of Rev. Sarah Shirley, rector at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Riberas del Pilar since December 2024. But that doesn’t mean she never enjoys surprises.
A big one came her way on Sunday, August 24, when her godmother in Massachusetts contacted her at home at Lakeside to tell Shirley that a photo of her taken in 2010 while she was working as a U.S. military chaplain in Afghanistan was on the front page of that day’s New York Times, “above the fold.” To make matters more serendipitous, her godmother said she had not bought a New York Times in five years, and when she did so was bowled over to see Shirley’s photo on the front page.“I was surprised at how delighted I was,” Shirley said.
The story had been written by Joao Silva, a South African photographer for The Times, who in 2010 lost both legs to a land mine while he was accompanying U.S. soldiers. Shirley blessed Silva before he was taken to surgery and his Times reporter took a photo of the scene through a window. Later, as after many similar occasions, Shirley didn’t know if the patient had survived.
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