Dear Olivia,
THIS is the letter I thought of writing in the weeks after September 21, 2008. Now almost nine years later, you will still feel the loss but getting on with your life will hopefully have become easier and maybe you may appreciate and enjoy what I have to say.
Your late husband Paul’s grandmother Bea Tansey (nee Tighe) and my grandfather Jack Tighe were brother and sister.
As I sat last Saturday in the house in which they were raised, while visiting cousins who still live there, thoughts of the letter I failed to write returned. Bea and Jack were part of a family of eight children growing up in the late 1800s on a small farm in a little place called Townaghbrack in South Sligo.
Each time Paul appeared on TV or radio, or my mother (who was a daughter of Jack’s) read an article he had written, we were reminded that he was our cousin. Pride in him was part and parcel of our lives.
Paul’s aunt Maggie lived in Gurteen in Co Sligo where his father was also born — something I am sure you are aware of. Gurteen is also my home place. As Maggie was my mother’s first cousin, we were always told to speak to her whenever we met. We considered her holy and saintly as she was a gentle, quiet lady who attended Mass each day. She was always so proud of her nephew Paul and spoke to him often.
In her later years she moved to a nursing home and on a visit to her she told of a letter she had received from you. That letter meant so much to her. Her words were, “Olivia has such a busy life but she still took the time to write to me.”
In 2008, even though Maggie had already died and none of the Tansey family lived in Gurteen or the Sligo area, Paul was still remembered. A piece appeared in the local paper, the Gurteen Newsletter, and he was remembered at Mass in the church. The county of his forebears was proud of his achievements and recognised his loss to his family and the media world.
My intention in writing this letter is to wish you and your daughter the very best and to let you both know that there was a large extended family who had you in their thoughts back in September 2008.
May Paul rest in peace. Carmel Finn, Co Sligo