audiotapes<\/a>\u00a0my brother Dick made of interviews with my mother and others. Dick speaks in some of his interviews of writing a book about how people could learn from mother\u2019s actions how a good Catholic mother should handle parenting problems. But he apparently gave that up when Mother died in 1952 and decided to write a book on the \u201cstory of her life\u201d and titled it \u201cThe More The Merrier\u201d. Most of the interviews were between 1948, the year of Mom\u2019s heart attack and hospitalization, and her death in 1952. At only one point in the some 73 tapes (of about 5-8 minutes each) did he mention a date and that was in 1951. It is my intention to talk about some of the material in these and future jottings. One thing I did learn is that I was mistaken in my previous jottings indicating that mother just wanted to be a teacher, and that is why she kept us busy in the summer time. The facts are she was a teacher. She taught for five years. She only stopped when she married Dad. She did as I noted win a right to attend the academically famous Girl\u2019s High by passing a test. But after high school she went to Normal (Teaching) School two years and then taught first graders for five years. She had 50 to 60 first graders in the classes but she also had the help of another teacher. They split the day. One teaching the other going up and down the aisle to see how well the children were getting it. All the tapes were not of Dick interviewing. Two sets of them were talks given by Marge and Dan Walsh to groups in their parish on sex-education for children. On one tape Dick does give a date and it is December 6,1951. The tapes talk a great deal about how she cared for the children, starting with them as babies and then on. There is not as much about her life except one tape with Madeline, Dad\u2019s sister, whom we called Madge. On that one they talk about friends of Mom\u2019s and how Dad\u2019s and Mom\u2019s family met.<\/p>\nFrank McCourt has died. He is the author made famous by \u201cAngela Ashes\u201d The story of his early life in poverty in Limerick, Ireland. I still remember his story about his first communion. His mother and grandmother took him. His Grandmother was to host his special First Communion breakfast. They got to the church just in time for him to receive. He then goes to his grandmother\u2019s for the big breakfast. He over eats and gets sick and runs out into the backyard and vomits. His grandmother is raging that God is now in garbage in her back yard! His grandmother takes him back to church and gets a priest to hear his confession. The priest tells him wash the host away with a little water. Grandma makes him go back and ask the priest if it should be holy water? He goes back and the priest is of course is surprised but tells him to use ordinary water and don\u2019t bother him again. Grandma calls the priest a \u201cbloody ignorant bogtrotter\u201d McCourt also talked about the problem he had in receiving the communion wafer. I remember my own lessons in receiving first Holy Communion in a Catholic Church, which used the wafer. It was repeated to us many times not to let the host rest too long on your tongue but immediately swallow it. Of course McCourt doesn\u2019t do that and it sticks for a while to the top of his mouth and then he finally gets it down. His grandmother taking him to confession also reminded me of our Dad taking my sister Anne and I to confession after we had been caught shoplifting in the local 5 & 10. In fact, Anne mentions the event to Dick when she is interviewed on the tapes mentioned above.<\/p>\n
I mentioned in the beginning of these thoughts about living with my ailments I have since there are so many younger than I suffering a great deal more than I. After saying that I came across an article in the magazine \u201cChristianity Today\u201d that verified that. It is a testimony by a Harvard Law Professor, William J. Stuntz. He tells of having a back injury that required \u201ctwo operations, dozens of injections, physical therapy, psychotherapy, and thousands of pills, my back and right leg hurt every waking moment, and most of those moments, they hurt a lot.\u201d He then endures the break up of his marriage and then in 2008 the doctors found a \u201clarge tumor in my colon; a month later, films turned up tumors in both my lungs\u201d. He then has two cancer surgeries and six months of intensive chemotherapy. \u201cCancer will very probably kill me with the next two years. I\u2019m 50 years old\u201d (Emphasis added) He goes on to testify that he still has great Faith in the Lord. He states: \u201cGod\u2019s Son did something similar by taking physical pain on his divine yet still human person. He did not render pain itself beautiful. But his suffering made the enterprise of living with pain and illness larger and better that it had been before \u201d.\u00a0 After reading this testimony I can hardly complain about a breathing problem. How he, the author, continues to teach is in itself a miracle of great determination!<\/p>\n
I came across an old quote by John Mortimer. He is an English Barrister, playwright, novelist, and creator of \u201cRumpole of Old Bailey\u201d. He wrote a biography entitled \u201cMurders and Other Friends\u201d. He mentions in there about his planning at one time to write a column and was considering using the title \u201cJottings of an Old Barrister\u201d, or something like that. But then he came across a statement in another book about the author writing a column called \u2018Jottings\u2019. He reads that the column is filled with \u201crandom and frequently pretentious thoughts.\u201d So he doesn\u2019t use that title. It made me wonder if my jottings are filled with frequently random and pretentious thoughts? I don\u2019t think so since most of the time I am reporting what others wrote, or I did, or family or friends did. It caused me though to go back and look to see when I started using that title. A review of the years 1992 to 1994 indicates the title was used once in \u201992. Some of the others I used that year were \u201cMemories\u201d, \u201cPaul\u2019s Ponderings\u201d, and \u201cPaul\u2019s Perambulations\u201d(!) In 1993 I used it only once. One issue entitled \u201cAugust Amblings\u201d was eleven (11) pages! In 1994 I used the title Jottings in all but one month. The month of November I called it FOB (Father of the Bride), since my daughter Mary was married on the 12th day of that month. It was also the year I reduced the writings to four pages. I still recall my sister Therese, a Holy Child nun, commenting: \u201cWhat do you do with all the paper?\u201d I am sure she got plenty of suggestions.<\/p>\n
August 15th will be the day to celebrate our marriage of 28yrs! I thank the Lord for such a loving and caring spouse who has taken care me \u2018in sickness and in health\u2019 all these years! In addition to that she brought me back to Faith for which I am eternally grateful.<\/p>\n
We wish Mary Mac (June\u2019s sister), my daughter Mary, and sons Paul and Dan, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!<\/p>\n
Till next time Pax Tecum!\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The picture shows the wind really blowing, bending those palms and creating waves that could be the beginning of a hurricane!\u00a0 We have be been blessed so far this year with no hurricanes and little news about possible forthcoming hurricanes. We have had what we call normal summer weather, high temperature and thunderstorms almost daily. … <\/p>\n
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