[nagdu] My Mother Crossed the Rainbow Bridge

[Peter Donahue]

        Good evening everyone,

    This year's Holiday Season will be filled with sorrow and joy. For those 
receiving this news for the first time my mother was rushed to Northeast 
Methodist Hospital in San Antonio and was later transferred to Main 
Methodist to receive treatment from a neuro surgeon. Yesterday morning she 
was found slumped in her chair bleeding from the nose and mouth. She is 
believed to have suffered a major stroke  and was placed in ICU upon arrival 
at Main Methodist. She never regained consciousness and was placed on life 
support where she remained until this afternoon. Her condition worsened 
during the night. The doctor offered to perform surgery but could not 
guarantee a deasent quality of life following the operation. With heavy 
hearts we decided to end life support. She crossed the rainbow bridge at 
about 1-15 p.m. following termination of life support. She died without 
regaining consciousness and is now in a better place.

    We're all sad and shocked with her passing. She exercised and took long 
walks to keep in shape and always insisted on eating right. She died at age 
73. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

    Mom was a fighter particularly when it came to my education. Like many 
parents of blind children during the 1960s and 1970s she was roped in to 
believing that the so-called "Experts" with the Department of Education in 
Massachusetts had all the answers when it came to teaching blind kids and 
where they should attend school. All of that changed when she visited the 
Oak Hill School for the Blind in Connecticut for a concert I would be 
participating in in 1972. The things she observed during her visit along 
with concerns about my well-being at the time prompted her in to action. 
Thus began what my family called the "1973 Uprising!" The environment at Oak 
Hill and transportation issues lead to a campaign to have me transferred to 
the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown Massachusetts if not in to 
public high school. When the battle was over I attended Perkins for the 
remainder of my high school years and graduated in 1975. To the best of our 
knowledge this was the first time the parent of a blind child in 
Massachusetts issued a serious challenge to the dogma of special education 
officials at that time.

    To set the record straight this happened prior to my involvement in the 
National Federation of the Blind. Although we did not know the organization 
by name we had its spirit which subsequently allowed myself and many other 
blind individuals to have a quality of life we would not have otherwise. 
Had the National Organization of Parents of Blind Children been around I 
believe mom would have eventually rose to top leadership in that 
organization and would have been one of its staunchest members.

    Mom has assisted several other disabled individuals over the years most 
recently my adopted niece who has Down's Syndrome. Although they could only 
progress to a certain level she expected them to achieve a degree of 
independence and self-sufficiency. I am one example of her persistence and 
her "Pushing" me to attempt to do the assumingly impossible.
    It will be different tomorrow not hearing her in the kitchen cooking 
Thanksgiving Dinner and bossing us around in her demanding and sometimes 
humorous way.

    Our Thanksgiving feast will be dedicated to her memory. We're not sure 
about funeral services yet. She has requested that her body be cremated 
following the funeral.

    Mary and I along with the rest of my family greatly appreciate everyone 
keeping us in your prayers and thoughts during this Holiday Season. Mom's 
death was sudden and unexpected. We will miss her but we know she crossed 
the rainbow bridge and is now among the wranks of family members who 
preceded her. Again thanks for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts. All 
the best for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Peter Donahue



"Will you come and awake our lost land from its slumber
      And her fetters we'll break, links that long are encumbered.
      And the air will resound with hosannas to greet you
      On the shore will be found gallant Irishmen to greet you."
Will You Come to the Bower
Traditional Irish Folk Song