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To everything turn, turn, turn
Seamus and Kathleen rejoiced to watch their children grow and develop. Their little home in Port Costa, filled as it was with precious memories, was no longer adequate. As Margarite grew closer and to outgrowing her crib, Seamus said at the dinner table one evening,
"My dear, I think we need to do something here. We're going to have to find a larger place for our family."
"But I love it here. We are close enough to the city that we can go there when we want to and far enough away that we have peace and quiet. Why give that up?"
"Kathleen, I would not ever want to give up what we have here. We do have it all, but we have to find some place around here that is bigger. These little ones are not going to stay little forever!"
"Ok, that's true, but where are we going to go?"
"If you agree, I will start looking around to see if there is any property that we can purchase and see what develops. Agreed?"
Kathleen leaned over the table, kissed Seamus on the lips, and said,
"See what you can find out."
That morning Seamus went into Martinez to deposit his pay check into the bank He had seen a Real Estate Office near the bank and this would be, he thought, the perfect chance to begin the search for a new home along the Carquinez Strait. Unfortunately, the agent said that he knew of no properties just then, but he assured Seamus that he would be the first to know if something did come up.
The following week Seamus had to take the train into San Francisco for a meeting of people who ran Catholic Cemeteries. As he passed Eckley, the site of the brick factory, it occurred to him that the factory looked very quiet. Indeed, Seamus could not ever remember signs of life in the factory. When he returned from his meeting, he thought that he would go all the way into Martinez and ask the agent to find out who owned the Eckley Brick Factory.
The Real Estate agent had no idea who owned that property, but he told Seamus that he would see if he could track them down. It turned out to be a very easy search of records to discover that the owner was living in Los Angeles. The agent contacted him and asked about the property and if he might be interested in selling it. As it turned out, he was interested in selling and suggested that the agent get a bid for the property. What followed was months of negotiations back and forth. Finally, Seamus and Kathleen made what they said would be their final offer. The owner sat on it for almost three weeks before agreeing to the terms offered. When Seamus received this news, he hurried to the bank to arrange a loan, which was soon enough granted. So far, Seamus had been able to keep this a secret from Kathleen, even though he knew that some day he would have to tell her what he was doing.
When the papers were signed completing the sale, Seamus came home and told Kathleen that he wanted to go for a ride in their new car. Driving up out of Port Costa he turned right and headed towards Crockett. Kathleen thought that they were going to go see her parents so she did not question what Seamus was doing. She knew he was very proud of this new car and presumed that Seamus just wanted to show it off the car to her parents. When he turned down a rather steep, dusty road, she wondered,
"What are you doing , my dear?"
Seamus ignored her and drove to the bottom of the hill and stopped the car in the middle of the field. He got out, spread his arms wide and turned around and said,
"Welcome home!"
"Ho...Ho...Home?"
"Kathleen this is our home! We own this property and just over there, on the small knoll, we are going to build our own home and nothing will be grander in these parts than our home! This is ours!"
Kathleen felt like a little child as she walked around the property, her property, their property! This was too much to believe. She asked about the old brick factory and Seamus told her that the government was requiring the previous owner to tear it down since it was a hazard. That was going to happen next week.
"But no matter, this is ours, all ours!"
Seamus and Kathleen headed back to Port Costa in quiet. Kathleen was beginning to plan what her new home would be like, but sadder thoughts crept into Seamus' mind. Here he was with all kinds of hopes and dreams for the future, but what about those families that he had met in the cemetery whose hopes and dreams would never come to pass.
He thought about little Ronny Frye. He was just twelve years old when he died of cancer. Because his coffin was a little too large, he could not be buried in Holy Angels Dormitory. Instead, his parents chose a grave near the grave of the Barry Family, the generous people that had first donated the land for Saint Dominic's Cemetery. Mr. Rushworth from Higgin's Funeral Home, as they now preferred to be called, gave him the measurements for the coffin, a new style metal coffin. After checking the size of the new lowering device for the grave, Seamus was reassured in his own mind that this new style coffin would not be too small and that it would make the work of lower the coffin into the grave all the more comfortable for the family.
On the day of the funeral, when the priest from Saint Catherine's in Vallejo finished the prayers, Seamus stepped up to the grave, removed the boards that were under the lowering device, flipped the switch and began to lower the coffin into the grave. All was going well until something happened. The earth began to rumble and shake. Seamus' first thought was,
"Why now, Lord?"
Even though the earthquake did not last long, the damage was done. Ronny's coffin, just barely big enough for the lowering device, slipped off the canvas straps and fell with a sickening "thunk" to the bottom of the grave. Thankfully, the coffin did not break open, but it was badly dented. There was a moment of stunned silence which Seamus finally broke saying,
"Mr. and Mrs. Frye, I'm so sorry, so very sorry!"
Mr. Frye looked him straight in the eye and said,
"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything. Ronny was always causing us surprises and this was just another little surprise from him. Please do not worry about it."
Mr. Rushworth and his new assistant, his daughter Sharon, were not sure what to say. This was a so-called "Act of God" and they could not be held responsible. However, they were concerned that perhaps the Fryes would allege some kind of irresponsible behavior on their part. Finally Sharon asked,
"Is there anything we can do, sir?"
"Like I told Mr. Gilchrist here, this was not your fault. Please do not worry about it. Can we please fill in the grave and we'll be finished here."
Seamus looked at Mr. Rushworth, shrugged his shoulders, and with the help of a young assistant removed the lowering device. He brought over a wheelbarrow full of dirt and begin to fill in the grave. As the Fryes left the cemetery, Seamus and Mr. Rushworth were talking about being worried that the Fryes might attempt to bring a lawsuit against them. However, they never heard from the Fryes again. Several months later, Seamus called Saint Catherine's and asked whatever happened to the Fryes. The parish secretary said that she had heard that they moved to the Territory of Hawaii. It was as though they wanted to get as far away as possible from the memory of little Ronny.
As easy as the Fryes had been to deal with, the Diaz Family was not so easy. Their son, Hector, got in some kind of fight at a restaurant in downtown Benicia. Before anyone knew what happened shots were fired and Hector was dead. The police tried to find out what had happened, but nobody would talk. Nominally Catholic, the family did not want to have a Requiem Mass. Instead they asked for a simple prayer service Wednesday evening and a burial at Saint Dominic's Thursday at Noon.
Just when Seamus opened the office that Thursday morning his new telephone rang.
"Saint Dominic's."
"Seamus, this is Sharon and I thought that I'd better tell you what happened last night at the funeral home. Are you sitting down?"
Seamus sat down in his chair as Sharon continued,
"After the prayers were finished about twenty-five teenagers began to yell and fight. They used every filthy word you can imagine and threatened to come to the cemetery and shoot people there. Someone even shot their gun at our back door and so we had to call in someone to fix that late last night.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Seamus, I wish I was, but I'm not. I'm new at this business, but when I asked my father he said that he had never seen anything like it. Anyway, I've called the police and they are going to be waiting at the cemetery just in case there is any trouble. Seamus, I hate to send this family up to you, but I do not know what to do."
"Sharon, you've done the best that you can do...you let me know and now I can be prepared. Well, for sure, I'm going to be glad when this is over."
With that Seamus was left to plan, and worry, about the Diaz Funeral at Noon. By Eleven-fifteen, the police had arrived and were all over the cemetery watching for any sign of trouble. They tensed up when the hearse came driving into the cemetery, but so far everything was quiet. Seamus could not tell who his parents were, but Hector's friends seemed to be a fairly rowdy group of people. They were talking loudly during the prayers. He was going to quiet them down, but the priest caught his eye and indicated that he was ok and that nothing should be done. Once the prayers were complete, and to Seamus it seemed as though the priest had raced through them, Seamus stepped up and turned the switch to lower the coffin into the grave. Seamus then stepped away to see what was going to happen. Most of the young people looked down into the grave and a few threw cigarettes into the graves. One young man went to the grave, took a bottle of beer from his coat pocket, opened it, took a long drink, and then threw the half-full bottle of beer into the grave. Seamus was horrified at this lack of respect for the dead. He wanted to do something immediately, but he realized that prudence dictated that he wait until they left the cemetery before he moved in to clean up the mess. He could not believe his eyes, however, when he saw one young man go to the grave and begin to unzip himself. Beer bottles and cigarettes could be cleaned up, but he could not allow someone to urinate on the coffin of a dead person, no matter who it was. With a force and a vigor that surprised even himself, Seamus yelled out,
"NO! Don't you dare do that!"
The young man was so startled by Seamus' outcry that he stepped away from the grave and after a moment ran out of the gates and down the street.
Seamus was so upset by this that he could only think, He can wet his pants for all I care. How dare he do something like that.
It was at least fifteen minutes more before the mourners, if that's what they were, left the cemetery. When they were finally out of sight, Seamus laid down on the ground and fished as much of the junk out of the grave as possible. Seamus told the Rushworths,
"He may not have been a nice boy, but damnit, he will not lie in peace amid filth. I will not tolerate it! I hate to say it, but I hope I never see the likes of them again."
The Diaz Funeral was not the only time that police were all over Saint Dominic's. One day Father Buckley called up to warn him that the Burial that he was bringing the day after might be a little difficult. He explained that it was a young man named Ted. He belonged to some kind of group that the police were worried about, but a group that so far, they could not charge with any wrongdoing. Several of the members of the group were known associates of convict that had escaped from prison several weeks before. Worrying and hoping that he might try to come to Ted's funeral, the police also came, though this time they were not dressed as police. The police told Seamus that they did not expect any trouble, but if there was any trouble, either with the escaped convict or anybody else, they would be ready. Seamus could only think that this was going to be the death of him.
When the funeral procession finally arrived, Seamus was not sure what to think. Higgin's normal black hearse was not being used. Rather, a nice, new, and red, truck drove into the cemetery. As he stepped up to the truck, Mr. Rushworth came over and whispered into his ear,
"I'll explain when this is over."
Whatever fears of trouble the police were concerned about, nothing materialized. Everyone, even the scruffiest person in the cemetery, was quiet and respectful. The only thing that bothered Seamus was that several people did not remove their hats during the burial prayers. This was not, however, something that he was going to risk trouble to correct. After the prayers were finished, several of Ted's friends spoke about the brotherhood that they felt with Ted and how they were going to miss them.
Once Ted's friends left the cemetery, Seamus did ask about the red truck. It seems that Ted had just purchased that truck and he was very proud of it. When his mother asked if they could use it to bring the coffin to the cemetery, the funeral home said that while this was unusual, there really was no reason not to do it. The truck was in good condition and would be a nice testimonial to Ted's care for his things.
Seamus was worried because he had seen the local gossip columnist, Herb Shanlon, standing in the background during the burial prayers. He knew that Herb had a reputation for writing unkind things not only about the Catholic Church, but about anything that seemed to be different from his own opinions. He was tempted to tell him to leave, but he did not want to risk an incident. Seamus' fears, much to his relief, did not materialize. When he read Herb's column in the next day's newspaper, Herb had written a very gentle, touching article that highlighted the sense of brotherhood among Ted's friends. Seamus was also relieved that the escaped convict had not come to the cemetery
The red truck was not the only time bright red came into the cemetery. One day Sharon brought an old lady in for burial. When she opened the hearse Seamus looked in both in horror and amusement at the sight of a bright red coffin. Sharon kicked him with her leg and said,
"I'll tell you later."
Seamus was glad that not only were the burial prayers typically short, but that the family did not remain long at the grave side. In fact, they left before the coffin was even lowered into the grave. Seamus stood with such a serious look on his face, that Sharon was not sure what to make of it. As the coffin was lowered into the grave, he asked,
"What is this all about?"
Though it was difficult to control herself, Sharon told him that the old ladies daughter had asked to have a custom made coffin for her mother. Her mother loved bright red and that was the color she wanted for the coffin.
"I wouldn't be caught dead in that thing!"
"Well, if you are dead and in that thing, I don't think you'd care one way or the other."
"Oh yes I would! You should have seen the inside of this thing. The lining is hot pink velvet. It is ghastly!"
As the coffin reached the bottom of the grave, Seamus and Sharon shared a laugh, a laugh however that Seamus very much regretted. If the old lady liked red and pink, then that was her problem, her choice, and not something that he should be concerned about. Once Sharon left the cemetery, Seamus went over to the old lady's grave and knelt down and said a decade of the rosary for the happy repose of her soul. He hoped that she knew he felt bad about making fun of her like he had. He resolved that this would be the last time that he ever did something like that..
There was one time when Seamus laughed in the cemetery and nobody was offended. Father Corey had just finished the prayers and motioned to the small choir the sign the final song when the earth began to shake. By this time Seamus was used to earthquakes and so they did not bother him. He had learned to take them in stride. But it would seem that Father Corey was not familiar with earthquakes. No sooner had the ground began to rumble that Father Corey jumped back from the grave as if he were afraid that he was going to fall in. He may have wanted to be discreet, but that was not possible. The entire family saw his jumping backwards. It was very obvious not only that there had been an earthquake, but also that Father was scared and not ready to be falling into a grave. When Father Corey apologized for creating a scene at the burial of their mother, they smiled and told him not to give it another thought.
When the family had left, Seamus went over to Father Corey and introduced himself. He added,
"Are you from Ireland? I'm from Kerry."
"Kerry! I'm from Kilkenney"
"Do you know the Black Abbey?"
"Indeed I do. I grew up just around the corner from the abbey. I went often to Mass there, at least until the time that I went away to school with the Christian Brothers."
"This is unbelievable news. My father, before he died, helped repair the damage that Cromwell and his boys did to the building. That was sometime after Catholic Emancipation in 1829. I do not know when my father was there, but it was a Father Clement that was the head priest at that time. Do you know him?"
"No, he must have been transferred by the time I came along. Sorry!"
"Don't be sorry, but do come with me to Port Costa across the Strait and meet my wife and family and maybe we can have some real Irish cooking tonight! Will you come?"
"I'd be honored!"