Go in the back door at St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy in Buffalo, climb the narrow wooden stairs to the little office that is always a fast-moving, in-and-out meeting place for an entire community, and right now, no matter how much you prepare yourself:
The grief and disbelief are immediate when you see the empty chair behind the central desk, alongside the life-size cutout of Josh Allen, beneath the familiar painting that shows the mission’s founders, Amy Betros and Norm Paolini, side-by-side.
The desk is where Betros settled in each day, for years, to oversee the operation – a massive, nonstop effort of solace and assistance for a neighborhood in need – and why so many who loved her are feeling such loss on Mother’s Day…