Wednesday, July 12, 2017

94 Years Remembered in 94 Days-Post 5 (Reasons for not putting her obituary in Az Republic)

Tuesday was a busy day for me, which is good right now.   When we wrote the obituary on Saturday and I sent it to the Arizona Republic, it was going to cost almost $600.  There is a story behind this and we decided that instead of spending the money on that, we would use it for the Irish Wake!   We are having it put in the Douglas Dispatch and it will be online one day soon.  

So today I took the picture and the obituary into a printing company and we are going to have 150 bookmarks made for the family.  They will be green and will have a shamrock on them.  

I then called the Sheraton where many of the family are staying to inquire about having a reception there after the funeral Mass at St. Mary's.  It is very close to the basilica.   The lady I spoke to could not have been any nicer, will comp us the room and we will be able to toast our wonderful Aunt Teresa who always enjoyed a drink.

Now to the Arizona Republic story.....   During the presidential election for John F. Kennedy in 1960, there was quite a backlash because JFK was the first presidential candidate who was a Catholic.   One Sunday, the Republic had an editorial about how if Kennedy was elected, the Pope would take over the country.    I was in sixth grade that year and I remember coming home from church and my mom was super angry over the editorial.   She called the Republic collect and they actually accepted the charges.   She stopped our subscription to the newspaper and it was not allowed in our house after that.   My mom often called collect and often had people accept the charges.   She had quite the spirit.   

When my kids and I spent summers in Douglas when they were young, I finally convinced her to let me "bring" the Republic in so that I could keep up with news in the valley.

When she died in 2002, I remember taking her obituary in to the office on Baseline and it was a little over $200 to have it published.  I remember telling the very nice lady the story about my mom and her relationship the Republic.  She would have not been happy for me to write that check to them!!!   So that is one of the reasons we decided to forego the almost $600 and spend it on the get together with family and friends!

The most important thing to Teresa was that our family stay close.  I promised her when I was living with her in Douglas that I would always do my best to make that happen and I will do my best.    She loved that we would get together for the fun times and she loved all of her nieces and nephews so much.

Even though we lost her mentally several months ago, it is still so hard for me to grasp that she is really gone.   I know it is a blessing for her and we were so blessed to have her for so many years, but it is still difficult as she was the last one left!!

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