June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
fills the children’s hands with posies.”
“The Months of the Year”
by Sara Coleridge
Thanks to Hubby’s constant care, our roses are doing better. The rosebuds on the front trellises have opened and are positively beautiful. They get full sun. Our roses on the side of the house get less sunlight so they come along more slowly. I have two empty cat-litter containers on the front porch. Both are filled with dirty flower pots. Some night, when it is cool, I will tackle them with a brush to make then presentable.
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Thanks to my friend Ann, I learned that our mutual friend, Dominic “Dom” Roche, had passed away on May 24. I first met Dom because Ann lived across from him and his family on South Munroe Terrace. When I mentioned to Ann that we needed a new roof, she highly recommended Dom. We were so pleased with his work. He even checked on the workman repairing our chimney at the same time. (The man had done a great job on the chimney.) Another time, a huge part of our neighbor’s tree fell through our roof, leaving a large hole. Dom was down the following morning to repair the damage.
As we got to know him, we discovered that he and his beloved, late wife Agnes were married the same day we were, July 2, 1960. If I remember correctly, Dom was also about two months older than Hubby and I. The last time we saw Dom, we noticed that that he was parked in his truck outside the Building 19 store in Weymouth. We drove over to his truck to chat and left after an hour. Dom told us that he wanted to be able to walk into our local Dunkin’ Donuts and meet a former customer, who would say, “You did a great job on my roof.” (He always did.) Our family sends its sympathy to his daughters: Donna O’Keefe, Denise Mulligan, Mary Joyce, and Darlene Ryan. He leaves his sister, our friend Dorothy Ciampoli, and his late brothers and sisters, Wilbert and John Roche, and Mary Markwood and Constance Furlong. By the way, Dom was buried in his work clothes – dungarees, flannel shirt, and suspenders, as he had requested. He looked just like himself.
There is more to Dom’s obituary, thanks, again, to my friend Ann. She called to tell me that Dom’s brother Wilbert had died on May 20, just four days before Dom. We are so sorry that the Roche Family lost two of its members in four days. I also send my sympathy especially to Dom and Wilbert’s sister, Dotti Ciampoli, who lost two of her brothers in four days.
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I hope that you saw the Blue Angels flying over Boson last week. I heard the roar of their engines first. Then Hubby called me to come out on the porch. He grabbed his camera and took a photo of all six jets together, although the photo showed the planes at a distance. I am sure that daughter Sue can zoom in on the jets before she sends the photo to Walgreen’s to be printed. She called on her cell phone while the Blue Angels were overhead. She had seen them once as she drove along Quincy Shore Drive so she pulled into a parking area along Wollaston Beach and saw them two times more. I called cousins Margie and Janet to see if they had seen the planes. Janet said they knew the approximate time that the Angels were coming. They also drove to Wollaston Beach, along with quite a few others, and saw the planes all four times. I was thrilled just to see them once.
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What a great time Hubby and I had at Boston‘s Co. Mayo Association’s Mass in memory of deceased members. The president of the association, Evelyn Fennessy, greeted us as we came into the large room on the second floor of the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton. We commented on how beautiful the day was. I even enjoyed walking over the nice new bridge from the parking lot to the main building. Our pals, Paddy and Peggy O’Malley, came over to greet us. Joe Heneghan, the treasurer of the group, was sitting at the membership table. I went right over to renew my membership.
Evelyn had mentioned in her letter that Fr. Peter Nolan of the Holy Ghost Fathers would be celebrating the Mass. We enjoyed him last year and looked forward to seeing him this year. We were delighted to see that our longtime friend John McGuire was sitting in the row in front of us, so we had a chance to chat before Mass began.
This year, Fr. Nolan was early for Mass. Last year, he was half way to say our Mass in Canton when he had to return to his own parish to say Mass. (He is currently assigned to St. Theresa of Avila Parish in West Roxbury.) He told us that the Holy Ghost Fathers are missionary priests, especially in Africa. He himself had spent eight years in Nigeria and nine years in Ghana.
Fr. Nolan told us a few jokes that were very funny. One asked why bulls have horns but cows have to wear bells? Because their horns don’t work. We laughed over that one. During the Mass, Evelyn read the list of those members who had died since last year, both in Ireland and the US. I had only knew the name of John Joe Somers, who owned three restaurants in Boston.
Just before Fr. Nolan ended the Mass, he asked us Mayo members to consider giving a donation to the Holy Rosary Sisters who live in a convent in Co. Cavan, Ireland. Msgr. Joseph Shanahan founded the order of nuns in 1924 to help the Holy Ghost Fathers. Quite a few of the nuns who have been working in the missions for 50 years or more in terrible hardships are now returning to a new retirement home in Ireland to receive a well-reserved retirement. The cost of the home is being divided between Ireland ($1,500,000) and the US ($2,500,000).
Fr. Nolan asked that we make out a check to the Holy Rosary Sisters and send the check to Fr. Peter Nolan C.S.P., Holy Ghost Fathers, P.O. Box 320143, West Roxbury, MA 02132. He will send all the checks to the sisters. In Ireland, the nuns are called the Killeshandra Nuns. I’m sure they have earned their retirement after doing so many years of missionary work.
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I heard a cute story the other day. Pal Eileen called to tell me that she and 12 other residents of Keystone were attending a fifth birthday party in the gazebo on the Keystone property on May 29. The birthday girl is named Nala Adams and she is a daschund, who belongs to Gwen Adams, also a resident of Keystone. At the party were four additional dogs. Gwen, please give Nala a big hug for me. I understand she is a cutie.
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Happy Dorchester Day to all!
