Maureen and Sean – XII

When I think back over Maureen and Sean’s financial crisis I marvel at two things: the response of the community and the fact that the community’s response did not soften Sean’s heart.

Susan and Sharon, along with other friends in the community, put together a fundraiser for the Coughlin’s at the county fairgrounds. The American Legion, Rotary, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Little League, VFW, Moose, and various churches were all part of the event. There was an auction of items donated by families and businesses, craft booths, food and drink, games, and music by local Gospel and Bluegrass bands. It was pretty amazing – what a community could do when a neighbor was in need. The profit from the Coughlin Fun Day went to a trust account at the Valley Savings Bank to pay for Maureen and Sean’s medical bills and housing expenses. I played a modest part in the event by being in the dunking booth – dunking the pastor was quite the attraction for the kids in our church.

After the Coughlin Fun Day we saw Maureen less and less at church. It seems that as Sean regained his health that he became insistent that Maureen and the kids stay home with him on Sunday mornings. Susan and Sharon and others continued to provide transportation and child care in conjunction with Maureen’s cancer treatments, and our parish continued to seek ways to help the Coughlin family. The Coughlin Fun Day was in late August, we hardly saw Maureen and the kids after the event – not even during Christmas. Oh I’d seen Sean at the post office or café or Food Lion, and we’d talk about sports and the weather, and I’d tell him that we missed seeing his family; he was always polite…but never open…never telling me what he really thought.

It is a mystery to me that the same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay.