 |
Rachel "Blondie" Fitzgerald
By Sean Fitzgerald
Rachel Lillian Peron Fitzgerald – mother of four boys, devoted wife, and friend to many. When my friends came up with the idea of putting together this golf tournament, an event to celebrate my mother’s life, I was overcome with emotion. I’ve wanted to host an event to honor her memory since the day she passed.
 |
I was asked to put a few paragraphs together to describe my mother. If you know me, my family, or if you knew my mom, you know that this family is not big on keeping stories short. What you are reading has gone through several revisions and I’m sure it is still verbose, but I’ll do my best. Here goes nothing:
Born Rachel Lillian Peron in Manchester, New Hampshire on June 13, 1940 my mom was a New England girl that loved the “big city” of Manchester. She married her High School sweetheart, Daniel Fitzgerald, shortly after he left the Army. Soon thereafter, she gave birth to four boys: Rick, Kevin, Darin, and Sean. |
Growing up, my mother was always involved in youth sports. I think she would be honored that this event will benefit The Jimmy Fund, an organization dedicated largely to ending childhood cancers. She believed that children should have an outlet to express themselves. She felt that youth sports taught children the values they would need later in life. She loved seeing kids, being kids, enjoying themselves on a baseball diamond, football field, or a soccer field. She was a founding member of the Manchester West Youth Soccer League and a dedicated volunteer with Manchester West Little League. All in all, my mother… an insane baseball fan, could often be seen in the stands blowing a whistle and cheering for her boys’ team, or sitting on the edge of the couch watching Sox games in late September, even after the Sox were mathematically eliminated.
She loved practical jokes. My father once spent about 25 minutes changing a light in our driveway one afternoon because my mother was inside playing with the switch. Every time my father came down from the ladder and folded it, my mother would flick the switch so he thought the bulb was loose. That was the way she was...anything for a laugh. She loved people. She loved laughing. She loved her girlfriends.
Her friends are like second moms to me. When my mom got sick, this special group of women did more for my family than I could ever explain. Words are not strong enough to describe my heartfelt gratitude, and for this I will forever thank them. It is said that during the most difficult times in your life, you find your true friends. These women made a most difficult time in my life a little easier and for this, I know my mom would be proud to have called them her friends.
My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer just after Christmas in 1986. I still remember the day she told me. We sat in front of a fire and talked about it for the entire evening. A month later she had her first surgery at 1:30 in the afternoon, in January, while I sat in a sixth grade math class. Within only a few months, she was deemed “cancer free”. In the fall and winter of 1996, my mom experienced back pain. In January of 1997, my mom and dad planned to take a day off work to go to the beach, have dinner at Hampton, and do all the things They did ten years prior when my mother was first diagnosed with cancer. This day was to be the 10 year anniversary of her surgery...a huge day statistical for anyone that has battled cancer. The odds of cancer returning significantly decrease after the 10 year mark. That week, we were informed that cancer had metastasized to her back. For the next 5 years, she fought for life. She fought like a proud woman, mother, and wife. She got to see two of her boys get married. She got to see me work as a summer associate at a law firm. She got to spend 5 more years with her friends and family...laughing, crying, joking and just being “Blondie”.
On October 28 2002, a day after the World Series ended she passed. There was no way she wasn’t going to know who won The Series.
I tell my story so you see what this disease does. And so you join this fight. I have a very powerful connection to my mother, her memory, and this disease. However, others have their own very personal story of losing a loved one to this disease. Their loss is just as powerful and affects their lives in just as many ways. We raise money to honor the memory of Rachel Fitzgerald, but we raise money so that one day this will be a curable, preventable disease. We raise money so that no others need to tell their stories. Please join with us in fighting this disease and together we can help move closer to that day .
|
|
|
 |
 |
Put your foursomes together now!
Register here for the Icthus Open. The cost for individual golfers is $125 and includes golf and the post-event BBQ/Party. Register today!
Join the Icthus Open Forum
Do you have 3 golfers and need a fourth? Are you a single player looking for a 4-some? Do you want to just let other folks know you have signed up to play? Join the Icthus Open Forum now! |
 |
Can't make the Icthus Open?
If you're not a golfer or you just can't make it to the Icthus Open this year, you can still lend your support by making a donation. Learn more
|
Don't play golf? Attend the BBQ!
If you're not a golfer but you would like to attend the Icthus Open post-event BBQ/Party, you can register and purchase tickets for $40.
|
|
 |
|
|
