May 27, 2009
Crossing Tom's Path
by Wendel Potter
Tom Sheley was my cousin. Our mothers were sisters. We breathed life from the same fiercely Irish Catholic Mullen-Griffin bloodline that ran deep in the veins of Northeast Iowa. Importantly, Tom and I shared Grandma Mullen.
My cousin Tom
Photo courtesy of family
Sadly, Tom and I never met. He grew up in California. My childhood began in Iowa and 12 years later spilled across the border into Nebraska, where I live now.
Tom's two siblings, Joseph and Norine (Tom's twin sister), still live in the Golden State. As with Tom, Joe's path and mine have never crossed.
Norine and I met in 1967 when she and her mother - my aunt Marguerite - flew back to Iowa for the wedding of a mutual cousin.
Grandma resided in Iowa but for several years trekked off to Sacramento every other winter to visit her West Coast daughters: Tom's mom and Jeanette, who, at 86, still lives in the rapturous beauty of the northernmost part of California.
Tom remembered those visits well. Though we never met or spoke, he sent me an email just two weeks ago to comment on a column I once wrote, Grandma's Rolling Pin.
The correspondence was out of the blue and so very welcome. While quite brief, Tom commented on the picture of Grandma that accompanied the column. I've re-printed that picture below:
Grandma Mullen
Tom snapped that picture in 1969, the last Winter/Spring that Grandma made the trip West. He wrote that it was taken with his "then-new Minolta SRT-101". He was dabbling in photography at the time, probably a precursor to the journalism career he pursued after his stint in the U.S. Army.
Tom was a veteran newspaperman. For years he reported for the Sacramento Union and eventually moved to New Orleans where he worked as a grant writer for the Louisiana State Family Planning Program. While never knowing Tom, I heard lots about him. I envied him.
I envied his journalistic expertise and I envied him those winters when he had Grandma at his house for long spells.
Over time, he probably spent more hours with Grandma Mullen than I did, though the miles that separated me from my grandmother were not nearly as many.
He mentioned, too, that Grandma baked a great deal during her "Western Pacific visits" , as he put it. This is what he wrote:
"Grandma Mullen's expeditions to California were always a treat for us grandkids. While I don't recall her preparing any meals, I certainly remember her wizardry with a rolling pin. Her dinner rolls were incredible,and the cake and glazed doughnuts were delicious. But
best of all were her cinnamon buns, which would absolutely melt in the
mouth. I miss all of that."
Now Tom is missed. Incredibly, he passed away just two days after he sent that email. That news came out of the blue, too.
Finally, through that email, I met Tom and in a few short sentences I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to get to know something about him. I was able to get a glimpse inside Tom's memories.
We shared blood. We were cousins. We shared Grandma Mullen. It's thanks to fond memories of Grandma that Tom's path and mine finally crossed.
And now that crossing will always be one of my fond memories.
Copyright 2009 Wendel Potter
|
|
