With it being March and the season changing to a greener aesthetic, let’s talk Saint Patrick’s Day. Specifically, let’s talk about the Irish and the wisdom they bring, especially from the perspective of a granddaughter.
Let’s go back to June 1, 1907, as 18 year-old Bridget Ena Madden is on a ship to the United States of America bidding farewell to her home town of Hollymount, in County Mayo, Ireland. She had been just informed 24 hours-previous she would be making the trip.
Madden’s older sister, Mary Ellen, was supposed to make the trip, but dreading leaving her home country, it fell to Bridget Ena to spontaneously embark for the United States and her unexpected destiny.
Renee Gatz, the granddaughter of Madden, has heard the story about her grandmother and great aunt many times.
“My grandma’s family was very poor,” said so and so. “And since the ticket was already purchased, they did not wish it to go to waste.”
Gatz said her family gave her two items to bring to America – a bottle of Jameson, and wisdom.
“Grandma would have a different saying for different occasions,” said Gatz. “She would pass on these sayings to my mother [Patricia], who would in turn pass them on to me.”
Gatz said it was these sayings that inspired her first book “Wise Words & Witty Expressions” which was published by Woodpecker Press.
“The first time I heard these sayings, I would roll my eyes, but the older I got, I saw how much their meanings applied to my life,” said Gatz. “I was inspired to start collecting them together.”
Some examples:
- “Only give your tears to someone who deserves them.”
- “There is a little bit of good in the worst of us and a little bit of bad in the best of us.”
- “When you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.”
Gatz said her biggest challenge in writing the book was remembering the expressions.
“After I wrote out all the sayings I could recall, they would come rushing back to me at different times. For example, I would be having a conversation or walking the dog and I would remember more of them. By the end of the project, I had a lot of small pieces of paper around my computer,” said Gatz.
Of course, the effort of producing the book took up her life.
“When you undertake writing a book, you eat it, breathe it and think about it all the time,” she said. “There were times I wondered if the project would ever be completed.”
Not only that, she was also working as a marketing and communications manager.
“I remember my grandma used to say, ‘You come from good stock, you’ll be just fine’,” she said. “Ironically, I was able to find comfort in one of her sayings.”
By mid-2010, boxes of the completed book arrived and were delivered to her mother’s house.
“I remember the first day we got the books in, and Mom was home when the boxes were delivered. But she didn’t open them. When I came home that night she was gone, but she wrote on one of the boxes, ‘Do not open until I get home!’ ”
Gatz waited.
“I wanted her there with me as I open them because she has been such a great help to me and when I opened the box I thought ‘Wow! It really happened’,” said Gatz. “It was like welcoming a new member of the family.”
Gatz’s mother, Patricia is thrilled.
“I have used these expressions so many times my friends would say, ‘Pat, you should write a book with them’,” said Patricia Gatz. “Well, my daughter did it for me and I know if my mother were here, she would be proud.”
For more information, visit Gatz’s web site at www.reneegatz.com.
