A Mothers Day Tribute

In Memoriam
Her Name was Elizabeth, but they Called Her Betty
It was nineteen years ago this week that a beautiful woman by the name of Elizabeth was called home to Almighty God. She did not become famous, never made headlines, if any thing her life was very simple.
Born in Ireland in 1906 her early years were anything but wonderful. She lived in fear of the troops who roamed her country. All the children were told to be careful when going to and from church and school because sometimes the troops would fire their weapons indiscriminately at voices heard in the rushes. When she was only 5 years old, she watched in horror as her mother died in childbirth while her father and uncle were arguing drunk in an adjoining room. Shortly after that, her father left her with another uncle and aunt while he went off to America in search of a better life. The Aunt she was left with was, according to the stories told, the worst of the worst and mistreated little Elizabeth to the point she ran away to another uncle who took her in where she stayed along with his young son Willie as friend and playmate. In 1913, word came that arrangements had been made for her to come to America. She remembers arriving at Ellis Island frightened and at the same time amazed as she gazed from the gangplank at the enormous glowing statue of a woman holding a torch on the base of which was inscribed the words “Give me your tired and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free”
She gazed around looking for the face of her father and thought she recognized him, it was not her father but her uncle Patrick, her father’s brother. She went for a few days to stay with her uncle Patty and Aunt Katie until arrangements had been made for her to go to Boston to live with her Aunt Josephine and Uncle Paul and her father who was also living with them. For the next 17 years, she lived with them often being treated as a maid to Aunt Jo’s five children, wearing their hand downs and later working to supplement their income. She did have an other cousin who lived down the street who she became very good friends with and would sneak away to attend movies and be a little “wild” by bobbing their hair and hiking their skirts up to be more “Flapperish”. This cousin would later become a nun and serve God for more than 70 years. In 1929, while working in a drug store, a handsome man, Bob, who was working days as a welder and nights as a singer in the Keith Vaudeville Circuit and studying law, spotted her. A familiar story is told how at dinner a few nights after meeting Elizabeth the brother of the man told how he had spotted his “Golden Lady” at the Liggett Drug store. Bob asked what the lady looked like and when his brother described her, Bob said “Don’t bother going after her, I plan to marry her. They got married in September 1930 but life was not to be a “Happy Ever After” of the storybooks.
About 8 months after they were married Elizabeth miscarried in her 7th month. This devastated her because she flashed back to her mother and the miscarriage and death of her mother and brother. Another 9 months later, this couple had another miscarriage in the final days of the pregnancy; this would have been their second son. The loss of two sons and the depression was taking its toll on Bob, he began to drink more than usual and this caused friction because it reminded Elizabeth of her father’s drunken fight while her mother was in labor and died. In fact, Elizabeth had a very strong dislike to drinking and especially excessive drinking. Through all the problems, she never gave up her faith in Our Blessed Mother and God. When she found she was pregnant again, she prayed that God would deliver a healthy baby. On November 16, 1934 after being confined to bead for the last 5 weeks of the pregnancy, and an extremely difficult labor, another son was born and named Robert. The child was born dehydrated and had to be given special care for the first 6 months of his life and sometimes thing were not always optimistic that he would survive. Survive he did, and his story has been told before.
After the birth of Robert, Elizabeth was told she had to have a hysterectomy but she still wanted to have another child, this was not to be for she within a year was forced to undergo the procedure due to cancer.
Elizabeth and Bob spent the rest of their lives devoted to raising their son, Sometimes things were combative because of Bob’s drinking and at one time Elizabeth left Bob, taking the child with her. Within six months, after consultations with a counselor and priest the family was back together and stayed that way until Bob’s Sudden death in 1976. He died after serenading Elizabeth that morning, rejoicing that she was home from the hospital, a place she ended up in at least once a year for almost every year of her adult life, fighting cancer in various parts of her body.
After the death of Bob, her son and she sold the house they had lived in for more than 40 years. In 1980 Elizabeth went to California to visit her son and ended staying there until her death in May 1987. Her last four years of life, were years of illness and suffering as she wasted away from a disease that was only supposed to be affecting Drug users and homosexual men. She had contacted it during a blood transfusion before blood was being tested during one of her hospital stays. Through all this, her love of God and the Rosary were ever present. At her funerals, she had two of them, in California and in Boston, all who ever knew her spoke of her generosity, love, kindness and faith. Her son had the gift of being able to bring her Eucharist regularly and of celebrating liturgies for her and the other patients in the facility she spent the last 7 months of her life in.
The life of Elizabeth is just a regular life, but it is a life that millions of woman around the word happily do every day. They are the woman who we celebrate this day set apart to rejoice in motherhood. Our Blessed mother showed them the way and they have through the years followed in Mary’s footsteps, giving of themselves for their children and spouse.
I know that Elizabeth is in the company of Our Blessed Mother and our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ and that Bob her husband is serenading her, Almighty God and all the heavenly elect with his magnificent tenor voice.
I talk with Elizabeth often, it is called prayer now, but she was my mother and I am ever grateful for all that, she did for me and all the others whose lives she crossed.
Happy Mothers Day to all mothers, your children are a gift; never let them feel unloved or unwanted. God Created them and gave them to you to cherish, protect them as best as possible, give them a strong love and knowledge of the Loving, forgiving, compassionate God. Do not frighten them with the stories of a vengeful god and scare them away from God. Love can conquer all adversity as the story of Elizabeth and Bob can illustrate, their love was stronger than any adversity. Just as God’s love is stronger than any adversity any of us may face. AMEN
Rev. Robert Francis Johnnene OFAMission Sts. Sergius and Bacchuswww.missionstsergius.orghttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/Mission_Sts_Sergius_and_Bacchushttp://spaces.msn.com/members/Mission-St-Sergiushttp://groups.msn.com/MissionSaintsSergiusandBacchus