Thank God for Irish Women Ch. 13 - Final

Chapter 13

July 20, 2010 through 2012

The drone demonstration with the CIA evaluation team was successful, and we were the only team to achieve the specified requirements. This contract was worth $38 million to our company, and our development team was honored with company-wide recognition and a very healthy bonus, which I donated to the Cathleen Foundation.

These little drones are now in use many places in the world and are proving critical in several hotspots to find the bad guys. They work in close to find the targets and watch as the Predator drones take over and do their job.

Emily was very busy. She spent additional time in Nashville with Bob and Judy until the Stanford classes began. Her class schedule seemed to take over her life, but she loved it. Although in computer science, she was allowed to take an elective course each semester. Emily used that opportunity to learn about welfare case management, health and human services, adult and child psychology and business management. All would be useful for the Foundation work.

Emily found three projects to fund in late 2010. She was at the airport one day and saw a wounded soldier arriving from war in a wheelchair. He was missing both legs. His wife, a three-year-old son, and her parents greeted him as only a loving and proud family can do. Several bystanders shook his hand and thanked him for his sacrifice.

Emily stood nearby and heard a conversation that convinced her to get involved. She approached the grandmother and handed her a card with the Foundation's phone number. Emily whispered to her that she would like to help this young couple if they would let her.

Four days later, the young mother called and they talked about the needs they had with modifications to their house. Emily never revealed her full name, only the Foundation name. Not once did the young mother ask for anything for herself or her son.

Emily engaged a contractor who specialized in handicap access and accommodation, and the work was done at no charge to the young couple. The Foundation paid $61,980 and also gave $25,000 to the young family to help with any other needs they had.

The wounded warrior called her after the modifications were done. His words touched her so much that she cried that night when recounting what he said. That family went into her diary for follow-up and will be there for many years. The need down the road will be the education funding for the son.

The second project was a student Emily befriended one day at the University Center. The young woman was sitting alone, obviously distressed, and staring at the floor. Emily sat near her and asked whether she could help. After a few awkward moments, the woman opened up. Emily has that influence on people.

The young woman's father had passed away from a heart attack several weeks earlier, and she was being forced to leave Stanford after the current semester. There was no money for her to continue. Emily wrote down her name and said that she would be praying for her.

The next day, Emily went to the finance office and paid for the remainder of this young woman's undergraduate studies. The young woman never knew Emily's full name, and they never saw each other again. The check from the Foundation to Stanford University was for $94,820.

The third project involved a police officer's family. Emily saw on the news that an officer had been killed during a traffic stop. He had served three tours in the US Army in Iraq and Afghanistan and had survived only to return and be killed on the streets of San Francisco. The TV reporter indicated that he had two young children. The widow's brother was interviewed, and a few things he said encouraged Emily to take action.

She called the TV station and talked to the reporter who had covered the story. After Emily explained what her Foundation did, the reporter gave her the widow's phone number. The next day Emily called and gave her condolences and asked if the widow could meet with her. Again, only the Foundation's name was used.

The widow had a number of health issues, and the officer's insurance survivor benefit would not be sufficient to cover the costs. The Foundation stepped in and worked with the police union rep to determine the health care costs that would not be covered. The Foundation made arrangements with the widow's primary care provider to pay these expenses.

This is an ongoing need, and the Foundation has paid $6,200 so far. This family has also been added to the diary because of Emily's concern for the young children's future. Although there was a large life insurance benefit paid, it would not be enough to provide a quality education for the children.

As time allowed, Emily visited with David and Jill in Los Angeles and we had them up several times over weekends. Both impressed her, and their love has grown. Jill couldn't have children so there were no half-brothers or half-sisters.

The relationship I had with Emily matured. We obviously enjoyed passionate lovemaking. Her body was always inviting me to visit it seemed. We rarely showered together... but when we did, it was exciting.

The big change was that we spent time talking and sipping on beer or wine for hours each evening. TV was not a priority unless her Giants were playing. We would never solve all the world's problems, but we discussed a fair number of them.

Emily "elected" her dad and me to the board of directors of the Cathleen Foundation and we met over beers at least once a month to focus on new potential projects and receive updates on the diary entries.

The time demanded by the Foundation research and record keeping quickly overwhelmed Emily; so she hired Sue Morris, Brad's widow, to be the Director of Research. Sue excelled in this role and became a dear friend to all of us. Her baby boy, Bradley Michael, was born in December 2010. Sue is dating again and her new beau is an engineer like me.

David was not allowed to use FBI databases for a personal reason; but some of the information he dug up on potential projects made me wonder how he got it. He occasionally offered up a potential project discovered during his investigations and two of those were funded.

I had two major engineering team developments during 2010. One was a small robot to check under cars at border entries. It ran around under the vehicle like one of those little Roomba vacuum cleaners. Before that, the Border Patrol had only hand-held mirrors that were not very effective. Ours had excellent optics and could smell many different types of drugs. Its "nose" was almost as good as a trained dog.

The second development was a robot that operated in the sewer systems of major cities to check for blockages and buildups. People had been doing this until we demonstrated a robot that could deal with all the solids and water without failing. The rats don't seem to mind it too much and haven't yet tried to eat it.

****

Thanksgiving week arrived, and we flew to Dublin. We had upgraded our wardrobe to reflect the standards Emily said were in use there and were probably overdressed. Since her last visit, her grandparents had learned about casual clothes and often wore them around the "house." Their house was a mansion set on a large estate about 15 kilometers out of town. Like Emily said, it was spectacular and similar to ones seen on TV.

Her grandparents had dinner for us with Uncle John, Aunt Lillian, Shannon, and Brandon the second night of our visit. They served a fantastic rack of lamb and delicious fresh vegetables grown in their greenhouse. Dessert was a decadent trifle.

After dinner, the men adjourned to the library and the women to the sitting room. Granddad and Uncle John smoked pipes as we sipped 100-year-old Remy Martin cognac. The talk turned to my background, education, work, and especially the farm. They were very interested in the dairy and grain agriculture of Iowa, and we talked for 10 minutes comparing American dairies to Irish dairies.

Uncle John wanted to know about my goals in life and my plan for reaching those goals. Granddad wanted to know about the Cathleen Foundation that Emily had mentioned and how that worked and was funded.

I described her projects to date and what she was doing to track them using her diary entries. They both smiled when I described the help she gave to the student by paying her college expenses and to the wounded warrior for housing modifications.

Granddad cut to the chase and asked about my financial prospects and how I planned to support Emily. I outlined for him the trust fund I was left as part of my grandparents' estate and the expected income from my engineering work. He seemed satisfied.

Brandon was bored to death and pulled out his iPhone to play games.

It was clear to me that Granddad and Uncle John already knew details of my financial situation; all I was doing was confirming their research. They obviously had a good network of investigators.

That evening I learned that Shannon and Emily made plans to spend the next day together and were going riding on the estate. The groom was going with them.

The next day, I went with Granddad to his club for lunch. He introduced me to an eclectic group of gentlemen. I was glad I liked Guinness stout because I had to drink several offered pints. Granddad seemed impressed that I knew the history of Guinness and the key people who made it successful over the years. Emily knew he liked it and I had spent time on the Internet to learn its history.

When the subject turned to whiskey, I didn't try to impress him. He knew it all, and I couldn't compete with that. But, I did know the basics and we ended up discussing the reasons behind his decision to sell part of the business after 200 years of family ownership. It was a very interesting afternoon and educational for me.

Emily was thrilled with her day although her rear and legs were sore. Shannon was becoming one of her best friends, and they spent hours talking about boys, clothes, makeup, and the Foundation. She invited Shannon to come and spend time with us to see California. She promised to do that soon.

Emily asked Shannon to be a bridesmaid, and the invitation was quickly accepted with pleasure. I agreed with Emily's earlier description of Shannon. It would be hard to find a prettier Irish lass. Her lustrous dark red hair was amazing; her beautiful clear skin with subtle freckles and her lovely voice would melt any American boy's heart. Emily told me she would buy a UCCC as a Christmas gift for Shannon. I told her I didn't want to know that.

Wednesday, we went hunting on the estate, and Granddad's German Shorthaired Pointer named Ben did an efficient job finding pheasant. I shot two, and Granddad shot three. We told hunting stories, some of them probably true, and laughed at many funny things we'd seen and heard. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time alone with him.

We sat under a tree to rest, taking turns scratching Ben's neck and back and talking about our lives and families. Although in his 70s, he was spry and an interesting man with wisdom I envied.

While resting, I asked, "Did you know that Emily had to drop out of Stanford because she didn't have the money to continue?"

He glared at me in disbelief before responding, "We knew she dropped out but not that she needed money. Keira told her mother several years ago that she had set aside more than two million dollars for Emily and it would go to her immediately if anything happened. She was here last summer after completing her first year at Stanford. She never mentioned needing money."

I replied. "Emily didn't know anything about Keira's money in a safe deposit box until June this year when a message was found."

"Oh, no. Darren assured me that she had sufficient funds but chose to drop out. We were terribly disappointed and knew she was having a tough time adjusting to Keira's death.

"In 2005 and 2006, I sent three letters to Emily attempting to establish a direct relationship with her so she would know she could depend on me if she ever needed help. They were never answered. When we went to Keira's funeral, we were surprised that Emily didn't know much or really anything about us. We did get to know her during the four days we were there so the letters became a mute point."

"We found them unopened in the box. Emily has now read them."

"Good. I'm sure the last few years have been difficult for her. I can't imagine dealing with some of the tragic losses she's had. Emily is an amazing young lady, Matt, and I'm very proud of her. Last summer, she proved herself a Ryan with her outgoing personality. We were thrilled to be with her for a few weeks. She lights up any room she enters. All our friends fell in love with her. I wish I had known she needed money. I assumed she had that two million. That makes me very angry. I should have discussed it with her last summer."

It was clear from our discussion that he also didn't know about Patrick. Shannon had kept the secrets that Emily shared with her. I made a mental note to tell Emily in case she wanted to share any of those details with her grandparents. I think she already knew Shannon had been trustworthy.

Following dinner that evening, Emily asked that her grandparents meet with us in the sitting room. She told them the full story of the last six months and showed them her mom's letter describing the events leading up to Keira becoming pregnant by David.

To say they were surprised would be a major understatement. But, their shock quickly turned to joy when Emily recounted how David had reentered her life and how much she had grown to love him. When she described how his quick action saved her from bleeding to death, Grandmama lower her head and dabbed her eyes.

Granddad apologized to Emily for not knowing she needed money for school. He recounted what he told me, and they kissed and embraced for a very long and tender moment.

****

Grandmama surprised us with a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. They invited Uncle John's family and several American couples who Granddad knew from the business world in Dublin. There were 16 at the dining table. It was an elegant and delightful formal affair. Their cooks were excellent, and the food was plentiful and delicious. The roasted pheasant was very tender.

The gentlemen retired to the library for drinking and smoking until well after midnight. They discussed the Irish version of what American farmers and businessmen discussed at such gatherings. Although I didn't smoke, I held my own with whiskey Granddad had barrel-aged for 30 years. Thankfully, almost everyone spent the night, as there were ample guest bedrooms and hardly anyone was sober enough to drive.

On Friday, the girls and I went shopping in Dublin. Shannon drove, and we had a blast. A couple of sweaters for Dad and an elegant lace tablecloth for Mom were purchased. Emily fell in love with Waterford Crystal, and we purchased several pieces for our home.

Lunch was at a traditional pub. The meat pie, soda bread, and beer were all very good and filling. Shannon was an expert chauffeur and tour guide as she drove us around Dublin for an hour before returning home.

On Saturday, Granddad and Grandmama asked us to join them in the sitting room. Their solicitor was there, much to our surprise. Emily had met him on her prior visit. They exchanged pleasant greetings while he and I shook hands and smiled.

Granddad began the discussion. "Emily, as you know from your previous visit, you have a trust fund at Mellon but there are restrictions. One of the restrictions is that for you to have access prior to age 30, you must marry someone whom your grandmother and I approve. We are very pleased with your selection of Matthew to be your husband, and we hope to be invited to your wedding next year."

Emily and I glanced at each other and smiled as she reached for my hand.

"Thank you Granddad and Grandmama. You will receive our very first invitation."

"As you also know," he continued, "Keira was a source of unhappiness for us; but we understand why that happened. We realized over the years that it was as much our fault as it was hers. Our family financial situation was a concern for her. She didn't want to be wealthy. I didn't understand that, and I should have. Her views of money were the exact opposite of mine. Losing her caused me to rethink my life and priorities and I now understand and fully embrace her views.

"We regret that her untimely death prevented a reconciliation that I believe was certain to come. Had Keira lived until our deaths, she would have the right to inherit at least €100 million from our estate. You will now inherit her share, Emily, if you want it. I'd like for you to use at least half of it to permanently fund your Foundation. With that financial endowment, your children can continue your work forever and help thousands of deserving people."

I glanced at Emily and saw tears welling. I handed her my handkerchief. She replied, "Thank you, Granddad. I will use all of your bequest to do the work of the Foundation."

Grandmama smiled and held her hand out to Granddad. As he handed her a five euro note, she said, "I bet him you would say that. Keira would have said the same, and you are exactly like her."

Emily's heartfelt tears flowed, and I reached to hold her. After a moment of silence, she stood and walked to her grandmother for a seriously tender embrace. They cried together for a few moments.

Granddad continued, "The effort and commitment you've made to help others and not yourself is commendable, and you make your grandmother and me very proud, Emily.

"Our solicitor is here to witness this discussion because we are giving you €10 million now for the Foundation, and he will modify our wills to reflect this change. The only request I have is that you send me a copy of your annual report so I can show it to all my friends." Grandmama grinned and nodded. "Would you like that deposited into your San Francisco account or your Iowa account?"

That was scary. How did he know about the Iowa account?

"That is very generous of you, Granddad and Grandmama. The Foundation account is in San Francisco."

"There is also an account at Wells Fargo in West Des Moines with your Foundation's name."

Emily quickly looked at me. I smiled and explained, "Dad asked me to set it up for him and Mark to fund. That will be a Christmas gift to you."

Grandmama angrily glared at Granddad and he appeared contrite for ruining that surprise. "Obviously, my information is not perfect and I sincerely apologize."

Emily smiled and assured him that there was no need for that. The San Francisco account would be perfect.

He grinned and continued. "Now for the estate and manor house. Emily, the custody of this property will pass to John once we are gone. It's only logical to do that because he lives locally. John and I have agreed that from today on you will always have the privilege of coming and staying here as long as you like. This is your ancestral home, just like it's ours. There are twelve guest bedrooms so your eleven children can each have their own."

All of us laughed as Emily pointed at me and flashed that devious grin. He added, "We've been missing the laughter of young folks around here for a long time." Grandmama quickly agreed.

"John and I will work with you to make your visits very special. Emily, once we are gone, you'll share joint ownership with him and you both must agree to any acquisition or disposition of property or furnishings. I have set aside funds to pay for maintenance, staff, and general expenses for many years into the future."

"Thank you, Granddad. You and Grandmama have already made me feel at home here." They smiled.

He turned to me. "James and Kathryn are very special people and are loved by most everyone, it seems. You're a very fortunate young man to have been raised by them."