| |
Frank Cotolo
June 12, 2014 |
| |
|
Mother Theresa once said to me, "Frank, I know you want to help but really, you are in my way."
|
| |
|
I didn't take it so personally because Mom Tee, as I called her, worked far too quickly for me and
when push came to shove no one could help her. She was a one-woman powerhouse of assistance and a
lot stronger than most would believe. She was frail in her old age, sure, but she had reserve
strength that could only be called divine.
|
| |
|
Once my Jeep was stuck in the mud and no matter how I swerved and shook the car stepping on the gas
the wheels just spun in place. Mom Tee got out of the Jeep and slop-stepped to the back of it, bent
over and placed her hands under the running board. She told me to gun the gas pedal. It didn't take
but one stomp on it for the Jeep to be set free from the deep muck. You should have seen Mom Tee;
she was covered in goop. But her wide eyes shone through the dark mud mask and we laughed heartily.
|
| |
|
That was another thing about Mom Tee - she had a great sense of humor. She kept it to those close
to her, though, because she said, "I gotta keep this serious saint stuff going."
|
| |
|
Another thing people don't talk about concerning Mom Tee is the fact that when she began her
campaign of charity and caring - she was 18 when she joined the Sisters of Loreto in the late
1920s - she rapidly became the top girl missionary and became so popular that the anti-missionary
forces of Rathfarnham, Ireland, made a bold move to discourage her.
|
| |
|
She told me, "My name was spelled with an 'h', like most Theresas, but some fascists kidnapped the
'h' and held it for ransom. They demanded the Sisters of Loreto throw me out of the order."
|
| |
|
The demand was more detailed, as I learned more about the story. The fascists insisted that the
Sisters of Loreto cast Teresa adrift with only a bowl of fruit and a flask of drinking water. Then,
they said, they would return the 'h' in her name.
|
| |
|
But Mom Tee would not negotiate with terrorists, nor would she hunt them down and cut their bowels
out. Instead, she sent them a note that read: "Take the 'h' and give it to a poor person that needs
another letter in their name or a middle initial."
|
| |
