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Hope for the future
That evening, during the young people's dinner, Seamus was able to put behind himself his talk with Fr. Murphy. He had not seen Maria in several days and so he was especially delighted when she came into the hall with a plate of her grandmother's tamales. As she set the plate down on the table, someone said in a loud whisper,
"Spic food!"
Seamus furiously looked for the source of what he took to be an unthinkably rude comment. For a moment, the young people gathered in Saint Patrick's basement were stunned by his reaction.
"Who said that? Who?"
Maria tugged on his sleeve and said,
"Seamus, it's ok. I just ignore it. It means nothing to me."
"But it means something to me. Who said that?"
Seamus continued to look around the room for the source of this whisper. Finally, a small, wiry fellow stood in the rear of the hall and said,
"I did! What's it to you?"
"What's it to me? I'll tell you what it is to me. Maria's grandmother made those tamales and you insult her too when you say those things. I don't care if you don't like that food, but you have no right to insult Maria and her grandmother."
Stepping towards Seamus, the fellow, unknown to Seamus, said,
"Listen, I didn't ask her to come here. This is America and if she wants to eat like a Spic she can go back to Mexico."
Seamus could not believe what he was hearing. Struggling with all his might to keep himself under control, Seamus shook his finger at the fellow and said in measured tones,
"Listen Maria has as much right to live here as you or I do. I don't know where you're from, but I came from Ireland. I was not born here and when my father died my Ma said that America was the place where I could have a better life. I decided that I would come to this place and here I am. If Maria and her family do the same thing, none of us, none of us, has the right to tell her to go back to Mexico or wherever she's from. Where are you from?"
"Virginia."
"So you came here to California from somewhere else, did you?"
Silence filled the parish hall as the young people wondered what was going to happen next. Most knew Seamus, but they all thought that he was a quiet person who just went about his private business. They had never seen him speak so forcefully and so they were astonished at both his calm in dealing with this person and the depth of his concern for Maria.
"Listen, you came here, I came here, Maria came here, we all came here from somewhere else to have a better life. I bet not one of us was born in Port Costa, but we're all here now and we can't be acting like fools. We're all people. Good God, we're all Catholics. Doesn't that mean something to you?"
As the fellow lunged at Seamus, several people near by held him back. He spit at Seamus right in the face and said contemptuously,
"Eat your Spic food if you want then. I'll stay with my own kind!"
With that he broke away from the two that were holding his arms and burst out the door of the parish hall. For a moment nobody knew what to do. They all stared at Seamus as he glared at the door. Finally Seamus turned to the group and broke the silence saying,
"Well, have we said Grace yet?"
After a moment of nervous laughter, someone asked Seamus to say the grace. He looked in amazement at the person who made the suggestion and then rushed through the Sign of the Cross and began
"O my God, I am most heartily sorry for having offended you..."
At this everyone laughed and Bob Jones said,
"Seamus, we're going to eat, not go to Confession!"
Seamus turned redder than his hair. Smiling he said,
"Well, you know I've had some things on my mind these days! Let's see if I can get this right this time. Bless us, O Lord, and these Thy gifts which we are about to receive from Thy bounty, through Christ our Lord."
A resounding "AMEN!" filled the hall just as Father Murphy came in.
"What's going on in here? I just met Mark Horn at the docks and he was pretty mad about something, but he wouldn't tell me."
Several people told Father Murphy about Seamus' confrontation with the guy and how he had stood up for Maria and her grandmother's tamales. This news pleased Father Murphy and convinced him that he had made the right decision in hiring Seamus to work at Saint Dominic's.
Seamus spent the next day a home. It was raining heavily and he decided that this was the perfect time to begin calculating how much wood he was going to need to build so many coffins. Twelve priests and many twice as many nuns. He figured that he would not have to worry about Brother Matthew and Father Clement, but still ten coffins was going to require a lot of lumber and then twice as much for the nuns.
And what about the cemetery property itself? He was going to have to come up with a plan, a suggestion, for Father Murphy. He didn't want to see Saint Dominic's Cemetery be as boring a plot of land as was Alhambra Cemetery in Martinez or as difficult a place as Saint Catherine's, also in Martinez. He thought that maybe he should ask Father Murphy to allow him to visit several other cemeteries to get some ideas so that it would be a peaceful garden-like place where the priests and nuns could be buried.
When he returned to Saint Dominic's the following day, he presented his idea for a kind of tour of cemeteries to Father Murphy. He was delighted that Father Murphy agreed that this was an excellent idea and he even promised to take Seamus to "the city" to see their cemeteries.
"The city? Where's that?"
Father Murphy smiled and told him,
"Young man, in these parts that is what they call San Francisco...The City! I guess they think that it is some kind of special place unlike any other place. I'm not so sure about that, but we'll go there some day."
"San Francisco! Really? I remember when I saw it as we came into the Bay on the day that I came to America. I was on the deck with my friend Pat Mahon and we tried to see everything. It looked like the most beautiful place that I have ever seen. The biggest town in Ireland I have ever been to is Cahirciveen, but I think San Francisco is much bigger. San Francisco! I can't wait! When can we go?"
Father Murphy was amused with the excitement that Seamus was displaying about making his first visit to San Francisco. He tried to remember his first visit to "the city," but it had happened so long ago that he had no memory whatsoever of it. Yes, there were many beautiful places over there, but there were also some very bad places over there. He knew that it was also called "Baghdad by the Bay" as if it were some kind of den of evil. Well, he would have to try to keep Seamus away from those places.
"Seamus, Father Donnelly is going to Saint Dominic's Priory and Church in San Francisco, maybe next week. I will have to see when he is planning on leaving and I will certainly let you know right away. For the moment, go down to the lumber store and place the order for the wood."
As Seamus was heading out the door, Father Kennedy called him back.
"Oh Seamus, some of the Dominicans have been buried by the Church for a long time. Father Anderson died in 1850 and Brother Louis died in 1856. There won't be much left of them. So the coffin doesn't have to be for a regular sized person. Also, since there is not going to be a grand Funeral Mass like we had for Brother Matthew and Father Clement, the coffins can be simpler in design. Just make them decent boxes for their holy remains. Do you understand?"
Yes, Father, I understand you. Simple and decent. That will be no problem. So, I'm off to the lumber store and we'll get to work on this directly."
With that Seamus was off to the lumber store. The clerk did not believe him when he explained why he needed such a quantity of lumber. He also thought it rather morbid that Seamus would be building coffins for dead people.
"Well," he said, "this is a way that I can show respect for the priests and what they've done in their lives. The Fathers are paying me to do this, but I am trying to remember that this is a work of mercy and so I hope that the Good God in heaven is pleased with what I am trying to do."
"Work of mercy? Well, whatever that means. Anyway, the lumber will be delivered to Saint Dominic's next week, by Friday, I hope."
"Another thing, some day I have to go to Saint Catherine's Convent and see what their place is like."
"More coffins for dead nuns? Sounds pretty depressing to me! Oh well, it's business for me, I guess!"
Seamus smiled to himself, thinking that even if the clerk did not know what he was doing, he knew, or at least he hoped he knew, what he was doing and that was right now all that mattered.
Since the lumber would not be delivered until next week, Seamus decided that he would first go over and see the City Cemetery in Benicia. Maybe he could get some ideas for the new Saint Dominic's Cemetery. As he went to the cemetery he passed y for the first time Saint Catherine's Convent. It was a large, grand building, larger than most buildings that he had ever seen. He wondered how many nuns lived there and just where their cemetery was. As he was looking over the convent building, the doors opened and a number of young girls came out and down the front steps and began to play and laugh on the lawn in front of the convent. These girls were certainly not nuns. Seamus figured that this must also be a school and it was now recess time. He thought back to Saint John's Cuslach School in Ireland and how his little brother Tomas had fallen off the wall while eating his lunch one day. Well, at least there isn't a wall for these girls to fall off of.
A few minutes later Seamus found the City Cemetery and he was not impressed. He walked up the small hill that led into the cemetery. The road led down through the cemetery with grave on either side. It looped around and returned to entrance. He did not like the fact that the graves on the right side of the road, closest to the exit gate were built on a hill that slopped down towards some peoples' homes. Seamus thought that these graves would be as hard to get to in bad weather as was Paul Walsh's grave in Saint Catherine's Cemetery. As he left the cemetery he thought that he had learned more what not to do than what to do as he planned Saint Dominic's.
As Seamus continued to think about how the new Saint Dominic's Cemetery would look, he visited the Odd Fellows Cemetery in a little town called Pacheco. That cemetery he did not like because it was perched, so it seemed, on the top of a small hill and the graves were placed randomly down the sides of the hill. Not very far from Pacheco was another small place called Concord. The Church there had a cemetery called Saint Stephen's, but it was way of out town and shaped very oddly. There was nothing there that made Seamus feel peaceful. They're just putting them in the ground and forgetting abut them and that's not right, thought Seamus.
That Sunday Father Murphy did not come to Saint Patrick's for Mass. The substitute priest, who never told the people at Saint Patrick's what his name was, gave Seamus a piece of paper. Father Murphy had written him a note saying that he would be going to San Francisco next Wednesday and that her would meet him on the morning train into Oakland. He also told him about two cemeteries in Oakland that he could visit. Saint Mary's was a Catholic cemetery and Mountain View was a public cemetery, but they were located right next to each other.
Early Monday morning Seamus took the train into Oakland. He was excited as he gazed at San Francisco on the other side of the bay. Feeling slightly guilty, he thought that this was the most magnificent place on earth. He did think that the Valley of Cummeragh was a beautiful place, but this was beautiful in a different way.. Once in Oakland he headed off to find Saint Mary's and Mountain View Cemeteries. He found them without any trouble, but which should he visit first? Finally, he realized that since he was Catholic, he really should visit Saint Mary's first. Unfortunately, he was not inspired with what he saw. Like the City Cemetery in Benicia, Saint Mary's seemed to be long and narrow. There was a nice enough road winding through the cemetery, but they also had graves going down the side of a small hill. This looked to Seamus like another place where it might be hard to get to the graves.
Disappointed that Saint Mary's was not a calm and peaceful place, Seamus headed to Mountain View Cemetery. Finally he found a cemetery that created an atmosphere of peace and calm, the kind of atmosphere he hoped Saint Dominic's would have. He liked the stone gate leading into the cemetery. Just inside the gate there was a large water fountain surrounded by landscaped lawns and flowers. The cemetery offices were to the right in a stone building that looked very much like a church. The graves themselves were in the area behind the fountain and wound here and there, so it seemed, with trees and bushes to make it look beautiful. At the rear of the cemetery he walked up a hill that was lined with small, stones houses, mausoleums they were called he later discovered. Each one had a different design and had special sculptures on and around them. Even more, the view from this area was wonderful.
As he returned to the train station he thought about what might be done up at the new cemetery in Benicia. He had many ideas. Now his problem was to put them on paper and come up with a plan that Father Murphy and the other Fathers would like. What to do? What was he going to do?
Wednesday morning Seamus was the first to board the train as it pulled into Port Costa. Father Murphy called him over to a window seat that he was saving for him. After introducing him to Father Donnelly, Seamus enjoyed the sights that so swiftly passed him by. When they arrived at the train station in Oakland they ran over to the docks to catch the ferry across the Bay. Although it did not rain that day, it was fairly windy and so the ferry seemed to be tossed all over the water. Father Donnelly did not seem to be enjoying the ride, but after his trip on the Baltic, Seamus felt that he could take handle anything. It was almost as if the water on the Bay was calm and peaceful, so relaxed was Seamus.
Once in San Francisco, the Fathers headed off to Saint Dominic's Church here while Seamus set off looking for some of the cemeteries that were located in this great city. He found Laurel Hills Cemetery easily enough. It was a grand cemetery with a view of the downtown area of San Francisco that made him forget that he was in a burial ground. It is too bad, he thought, that the dead people can't enjoy the beauty of it all. He especially liked the way the paths lead from one section to another. They were lined with small plants that made the cemetery seem more like a park than anything else.
After walking around Laurel Hills for awhile, Seamus headed off to look for the Catholic Cemetery in San Francisco. On his return trip to Port Costa he told Father Murphy that he never found the Holy Cross Cemetery. What he did not tell Father Murphy was that he did not put too much effort into his search. He wanted to explore some of the downtown of this most magnificent of cities. He felt slightly guilty about not looking more diligently for Holy Cross, but since he had already seen a number very different cemeteries, he was sure that he could come up with a plan that the Fathers would like.
The lumber was delivered to Seamus at Saint Dominic's that Friday, as promised. Seamus neatly stacked it in the wood shed and then sat down to plan his work on the coffins that he would need to move the priests' graves. With all the other tasks that would need his attention, he figured that it would take him about six weeks to build all of the new coffins.
While he was building the coffins, he was also thinking about the design of the new cemetery. One day, as he was staining the coffins an idea came to him. AS soon as he finished the coffin he was working on he sat down and sketched a layout for Saint Dominic's Cemetery. There would be an iron gate affixed to two columns built of local stone. The fence would be black iron and every fifteen feet or so there would be another column of local stone.
Just beyond the iron gate would be a path lined with tall trees and small plants or flowers. On the right side there should be a statue of Saint Dominic, after whom the cemetery was to be named. This path would lead to a large circular area and right in the middle of a circle there should be a tall granite cross that would remind all who visited the cemetery that they could have hope in Christ as they visited this holy place. Thinking about Old Dromid Cemetery back home and how it was built on the site of an ancient church, Seamus thought that at the edge of this circle there should be a kind of outdoor altar where the Holy Mass could be celebrated, if such a thing was permitted. The Fathers would be buried in the lawn area that would surround the granite cross. It would be like going into an outdoor church. Because the new cemetery was located on land that had some small hills, paths could lead up and down from the central circle to other areas where perhaps benches or other things of beauty could be placed. Seamus did not know what the Nuns from Saint Catherine's wanted for their area of the cemetery, but this did not cause him too much concern at the moment. He was sure that their graves could be arranged in such a way that people visiting their graves would feel peace and calm.
Unfortunately it was getting late and Father Murphy had already gone into the church for prayers and Seamus knew that this would have to wait until the following Monday.
When Seamus was finally able to present his plan to Father Murphy, he was very excited that Father Murphy seemed to like what he had suggested. Father asked him what kind of trees would line the path. Seamus told him that he would first have to go to a nursery and see what they would suggest would be the best tree for that area. After looking at Seamus' diagram for several more minutes, Father Murphy finally told him that he liked what Seamus was suggesting.
"However, now I have to take your idea to the Chapter, the general meeting of all of the priests at Saint Dominic's, and see what they say. After they talk about it, then there will be a vote and if they like it, we can get to work. If not, well, we'll just have to figure out what we will do next if we have to. But I think that they are gong to like this very much. Yes, I think they will like your work, Seamus."
Seamus thanked Father Murphy for his considering that idea he had come up with. "But now," he said, "I need to get back to those coffins. I think that I need a couple of more weeks and we will be ready."
After Mass that following Sunday, Father Murphy called Seamus aside and told him that the Chapter Meeting of priests liked what he was suggesting. The only question that was raised concerned the stones that would mark each grave. Would they have to buy new stones or would they use the old stones? Seamus suggested that they use the old stones since there were still in good condition.
"Also, Father, because they are not too big, I think that we will have more room in the circle to bury the dead Fathers. Some of the cemeteries I visited had such large grave stones that took up too much room and they made the cemetery look too crowded. I like these white stones so I would take them up to the new site when we move the graves."
"All right, let me think about that and we will talk about this some more. Now, have you been to talk to Mother Goemere at Saint Catherine's Convent?"
"I passed by the convent one day when I went to see the city cemetery and saw that they must have a school there, but I did not go in. So, I know where it is, but that's all."
"All right then, you go over to Saint Catherine's and see Mother Goemere. Tell her that I sent you over and that you will be my contact for moving the graves of her nuns to the new cemetery. We can work out a deal, if she likes, and you can build the coffins to move her nuns, if that is necessary."
Seamus laughed and told Father Murphy about the clerk at the lumber store and how he thought that it was morbid that Seamus was building so many coffins for dead people.
Father Murphy smiled and said,
"Some people have some different ideas and we can't stop them from thinking that way, I suppose. You just do a good and everyone will be happy."
With that Seamus headed off to Saint Catherine's Convent. He had never been inside of a convent so he was wondering that it would be like. It only took ten minutes to walk there. He climbed the stairs and pulled the door bell. Within a moment or two, the door opened and the most beautiful girl possible invited him inside. She had soft brown hair and green eyes. She smiled in a way that made Seamus feel like melting butter. He smiled back at her, wondering what he should say.
Finally she said,
"My name is Kathleen O'Shaunessey. What can I do for you? Who do you want to see?
"My name is Seamus Gilchrist and I work for the Fathers at Saint Dominic's. They are building a new cemetery and Father Murphy said that I needed to Mother Goemere about moving the graves of the dead nuns up there. Is this the place to find the Mother?"
Kathleen inclined her head ever so slightly, smiled and said,
"Yes, you are in the right place and I will see if I can find her for you. Wait here please."
As Kathleen went to find Mother Goemere, Seamus could not help admiring her beauty. But even more he thought that she had a nice manner. Even though they had spoken for a very few moments, Seamus liked the way acted.
Lost in these thoughts, Seamus did not notice the approach of a tall, dignified, stern nun. Kathleen cleared her throat to get Seamus' attention and he quickly bowed to her and extended his hand saying,
"I'm Seamus Gilchrist, Sister, and Father Murphy sent me to talk with you about moving the dead nuns from your cemetery here to the new Saint Dominic's Cemetery on Hillcrest.
Pointedly looking at Seamus, Kathleen said,
"Mother Goemere, I will be in the parlor if you need me."
With that she left Seamus and Mother Goemere to themselves.
"Tell me more, young man, about what Father Murphy is thinking in this new cemetery."
Seamus tried to describe the land and what he had suggested to Father Murphy for a layout of the cemetery. He told Mother Goemere about how he was building coffins to use for moving the graves of the dead priests from the Church up the hill to the new cemetery. He said that if she liked, he could do the same for her dead nuns. He also told Mother Goemere that she would still have to show him were her nuns would be buried and how she wanted the graves arranged. Mother Goemere promised that she would carefully consider what he had said. She said that she would then have to consult her Chapter before a final decision would be made. She accepted Seamus offer to meet him some day at the site of the new cemetery. That way they could make some more definite plans about her section of the new cemetery.
"But, uh, Mother, may I please see your cemetery here? Maybe that will give me some ideas about how your graves can be arranged."
Mother Goemere went to the parlor where Kathleen was reading and asked her to take Seamus up to the cemetery. Seamus smiled to himself and wondered if the angels were watching over him at this very moment. What good luck! What incredible fortune! To meet a beautiful girl and then to have her take me to the cemetery! What more could I want? But, I'll be good, dear God!
As they walked across the yard towards the nuns' cemetery, Seamus told Kathleen that he had come from Ireland after his father had died. He told her about Paul Walsh and how he was now working for the Fathers at Saint Dominic. He told her about the new cemetery and how he was going to move the dead priests and nuns to the new cemetery. Kathleen told Seamus how her parents had come from Ireland, from County Galway, after the potato famine. They came to America because they wanted to avoid becoming soupers. She was in her last year of school and when she was finished she was going to find her husband and they would get married and have a family.
Seamus couldn't believe what he thought was his good luck. She was looking for a husband and why shouldn't it be me?
After walking up a small hill behind the convent, Kathleen led Seamus to a tall wooden fence where she opened the gate. Just opposite the gate there was a large white stone crucifix and the 21 nuns' graves that were lined in neat rows in front of the crucifix. Seamus noticed that the grave stones were identical to the priests' grave stones, except that the Fathers' stones were white and the Nuns' stones were gray. After walking up and down several times, Seamus finally said,
"Well, Kathleen, I think I've seen enough. You've been very kind and I hope that I can see you again."
Kathleen demurely smiled at him and said,
"That would be nice."
Since it was getting late Seamus headed directly for the dock to ride the ferry back to Port Costa. Even though the ferry was more than thirty minutes late, Seamus did not notice the delay. In later years he would say that he was smitten meeting Kathleen that day. He knew what he was going to do for the cemetery. Now what was he going to do to get to know Kathleen?