Description:
Connie Cronin talks about her life growing up in New York and moving to Oklahoma.
Interviewer: “Please tell me your name.”
Cronin: “Constance Cronin.”
Interviewer: “And your birth date?”
Cronin: “It is August the fourth, 1920.”
Interviewer: “And our relationship?”
Cronin: “We’re friends.”
Interviewer: “And where we are.”
Cronin: “We are at Saint Anne’s retirement home in Oklahoma City.”
Interviewer: “Where were you born?”
Cronin: “I was born in New York City. Manhattan.”
Interviewer: “And where did you grow up?”
Cronin: “I grew up in the same city. Manhattan.”
Interviewer: “What was it like?”
Cronin: “Oh, very different than it is today. Because we were more or less divided into denominations as far as, well, religion was concerned, and nationalities were concerned. Each neighborhood was a nationality. I lived in the Irish section because my father was born in Ireland. And my mother was of Irish descent. I am what is known as 100% Irish person.”
Interviewer: “Who were your parents?”
Cronin: “My father’s name was Matthew Aloysius Hanratty. And my mother’s name was Irene Veronica Mary Hemolita McCormick.”
Interviewer: “And what were your parents like?”
Cronin: “My father was a very open person. He loved people. And never met a stranger, as my mother said. My mother was more reticent and, unfortunately, she was an alcoholic. But that was something we lived with.”
Interviewer: “Did you have brothers and sisters?”
Cronin: “Yes. I had three brothers who were all younger than I was- I was the oldest. And there was 13 months difference between me, my oldest brother. And then I had my middle brother, and then I had a brother who was 7 and a half years younger than I was. He was the baby.”
Interviewer: “Where did you go to school?”
Cronin: “I went to Catholic schools all my life. I went to Holy Name Elementary when I first started. Then I went to Saint Gregory’s. And then I went to Cathedral High School and Holy Child High School. And Fordham University and Columbia University.”
Interviewer: “Was it unusual, you were college educated. Was it unusual to go to college upon your age group or among your among contemporaries?”
Cronin: “Well, in a sense it was unusual because women... When I was growing up you either became a nurse or a teacher, or you stayed at home. But what you did if you went to college is you would probably be preparing for a profession. Maybe something that was CPA account, or you were preparing for a buyer in a store. But you were not considered seriously for a doctor, or lawyer, or anything of that nature. “
Interviewer: “What was your major?”
Cronin: “My major was Journalism.”
Interviewer: “And you graduated what year?”
Cronin: “I graduated in 1932 and then in 30... I have to do my figuring. Uh, I graduated 8 years later from college.”
Interviewer: “And your degree is in?”
Cronin: “Journalism.”
Interviewer: “Journalism. What is your best memory of childhood?”
Cronin: “Playing with my brothers and the freedom that we enjoyed as a group. You knew everybody in the neighborhood. And you were friends with all the children in the neighborhood. You... My father owned a saloon, which you weren’t supposed to do. That was illegal. But he did own a saloon. And the neighborhood I lived in had a lot of children. So, in the... we used to go away in the summer. Before we went away, they used to open the fire hydrants on the street and we used to cool off, as the saying goes. If you wanted to cool off on a hot day, they would turn the fire hydrants on. You knew all of the policemen in that particular area. And they knew you. And if you got into trouble, by the time you got home everyone in the house knew it. Everybody in the neighborhood knew it because the policemen would contact your family. So, we more or less behaved ourselves. If we got into mischief, it was not very serious.”
Interviewer: “I know that you’ve told me in the past about some of the places that you had the freedom to visit as a child. Some of the cultural attractions in New York City? That were close to you?”
Cronin: “Oh. I was fortunate. Because on Saturday morning, we lived... I used to go to the library every Saturday morning from the time I was about 6. and I would be able to go by myself. It was four blocks away and I knew all the librarians, and they knew me. They would help me choose
books. I loved books and it was my delight to come home with a pile of them every weekend. And if I couldn’t read them, it was alright. I would struggle to read them and usually get some adult to help me. But when I was older, I was able to go to shows, museums. I would go with my father and brother to Yankee Stadium every Saturday and see a ball game. This was in the summer. In the fall, my dad would take us to the horse show and we would see the circus. We went to see the Ringling Barnum & Bailey Circus every single winter. And I had a cousin who got wrapped around an elephant’s leg one year and scared us half to death. But he did survive and we survived. But I think that was the last time my father decided to take a bunch of neighborhood children to the circus. Because it was all in the family, so it didn’t really make too much of a difference, but he was a little child-shy after that as far as the circus was concerned.”
Interviewer: “Your father, when you talk about him having a restaurant and a saloon, it had some illustrious customers. You talked about some of the people who he knew?”
Cronin: “Oh yes. I went to school with Babe Ruth’s daughter and that was when we were at Saint Gregory’s. And I knew Babe Ruth. I knew Lou Gehrig. I knew the whole Yankee team because my dad was very good friends with Doctor A. A. Woods, who was the trainer for the Yankees. He wasn’t a real doctor. He was Doc Woods. But he was the trainer. And the real doctor for the Yankees was Doctor Edward A. King. Who had four children, just as we had four children in our family. And we were all about the same age, so we were friends. But we used to... and he had three boys and one girl. We used to go to Yankee Stadium to see the Army-Notre Dame game, every year. And, unfortunately, we did go this one year and Doctor King got pneumonia and died shortly after that. So that was something that was very difficult for my father to take in stride because he and Doctor King were very good friends. I did know all of the baseball players. And Babe Ruth used to come to our church on Sundays and he used to stride in with his vicuna coat. It wasn’t camel hair - it was vicuna. And of course, he always wore the hat. And he sat in the front row, which you know, I thought it was very pompous of him, and it was. But he let everybody know that he was in church on Sunday when he wasn’t in training. If it was in the spring, of course he was gone in Florida for training, but during the winter, he was there. And he just lived down the block from us.”
Interviewer: “Now we had talked about... we were going to skip ahead and talk about how you came to Oklahoma, when you came to Oklahoma. Are there any childhood memories you would like to share before we go on?”
Cronin: “No. I was just very fortunate, I think, to have been born and raised in New York. Because there was so many cultural advantages. I got to see, in 1942, I got to see the Ballet Russe when it first came to New York City. And got to see the prima ballerinas, like the Tallchiefs. Little did I know that I was going to Oklahoma and living in Oklahoma where Maria and Marjorie and Yvonne Chouteau would be dancing years later. But my husband worked for General Electric Credit Corporation and they were offering opening a southwest office and he was asked if he would come out here. He was rather loath to do it, but I thought it would be an excellent opportunity, as far as my children were concerned. Because New York was getting every rough at
that time, which was 1960, and it would... I thought my children would have a better chance as far as education was concerned, if we came to a place like Oklahoma. Where, I have to confess, that I did expect to find cowboys and Indians out here. But I never did see any except the first Indian I saw was in Sears, in the housewares department. And he didn’t have a horse at the time, or a bow and arrow. I just realized he was an Indian, but it was very different. Oklahoma was very different in those days. I remember going down the block where we lived and having people come up and ring my doorbell and asking me if I had a church to go to and I said “Yes. I did.” because I had enrolled my children in Saint Charles. When my husband and I came out here to look for a home, I had enrolled them at Saint Charles, so I told everybody, “Yes, I did have a church.” Well, some of them were very glad and wished... hoped I’d be very happy out here and some of them were just said, “Well, please don’t ring my doorbell because we don't associate with Catholics.” So, that was kind of an eyeopener. And I had to remember that I had come to the Bible Belt. It was kind of a culture shock to come out here because the first time in my life, instead of having to look up at the sky by craning my neck and putting my head back, I could just look straight ahead and see as far as the eye could see. And it was big change for me. I had... it was very different because I had to take my children to school in a car. We had to have two cars whereas in New York... in New York City, you didn’t need a car because every place you traveled, you traveled by car. Or, you traveled by subway, or bus, or taxi. And you just went to the corner. Put up your finger and hailed a car. But you didn’t do that out here. You had to have your own car and your own transportation. The transportations in Oklahoma City is still not up to par. It was a big change. For the first time, we lived in a house. We did not live in an apartment.”
Interviewer: “And your house was on... near MacArthur and Northwest Expressway.”
Cronin: “Right.”
Interviewer: “Right? And you have told me about how different the area was when you first came.”
Cronin: “Well, the first house was on Vermont. And it was the first house that we bought. Didn’t have an air conditioning, which was a big mistake. But you don’t discover that until you’ve been here for a while, because in New York, it wasn’t usual to have air conditioning. Your cars didn’t have air conditioning, your home didn’t have air conditioning. But here, you had to have air conditioning. Our first home was on Vermont and the second house that we moved to was on Melton Drive and it was known as Rural Route 2, as far as the postman was concerned. And we had a vacant lot behind us and a spillway. And we were told... oh, we had cattle grazing in the back. And I thought that was absolutely wonderful. I had never seen it before. And the builder assured us that we would have cattle grazing there for years and years. But, of course, we didn’t. Because the following year they sold part of that land to a developer and he started to build homes. And then a little further up, the rest of that property was sold to Putnam City Schools and we had Hefner Junior High. So that took care of that. We had a couple of stores come in on the corner, two blocks down. And then we had a grocery store, two blocks down. So, it... you
know, it was a big change. But we didn’t... we weren't discouraged. We were still liked the area and we did stay there for 45 years before I sold the house at the death of my husband.”
Interviewer: “And today that is one of the busiest intersections in Oklahoma City.”
Cronin: “It’s one of the busiest intersections of the city.”
Interviewer: “Well, let’s back up a little bit. Because you mentioned your husband and I was wondering if you could tell me how you met him and your wedding and all of those wonderful things.”
Cronin: “Well, I lived on 89th street in Broadway in New York. And my husband lived at 89th street in New York. And his dad used to walk the dog in the apartment building that I... where I lived. He had a dog and I had a dog. I had a Springer Spaniel and he had a Corgi. So, I got to know his dad before I got to know him, before I got to know my husband. And he had just finished Fordham University when I first met him, because when we first moved into that apartment building, they showed us his apartment as a... which would show us what we could do with furniture, as far as placement was concerned. And I can remember he was standing in the bedroom, his bedroom, or what was going to be his bedroom, they had just moved in. And he had... he was just getting ready to go down and apply for a job, which he did get and kept for 42 years. He worked for the General Electrical Credit Corporation. But that is how I met him. I... that was the first time I saw him. And after that I see him bring the dog down the elevator and we got to talking and we walked the dog and whatnot.”
Interviewer: “And what was your husband’s occupation for General Electric?”
Cronin: “He was an accountant and manager.”
Interviewer: “Do you have any favorite stories from your marriage?”
Cronin: “Oh, yes! When I bought a car. When we lived in New York, when my dad died. My brothers had all gotten houses and cars from my father. But I said no, I didn’t want any, I didn’t need any. I was always very independent and my dad, in his will, left me the money for a car. So, I... I decided I was going to go look for a car. I didn’t say anything to my husband. And you understand, I couldn’t drive a car. I didn’t know anything about it, but I did go to a dealer. And I did pick out a car and it was a Chrysler Saratoga. And it was a very sharp looking car and I decided, I took a friend of my husbands with me, and he was very hesitant all during this process. If I'm buying this car, which took approximately an hour and a half, because we went after supper one night. And I bought the car, got the insurance on it, pay for it, and I had him, my friend, drive it home. Because I couldn’t drive. I parked it in front of our house, our apartment building. And I went upstairs and rang the doorbell, and told my husband to come down, I had a surprise for him. And he came down and he saw the car. And he was speechless. He had no idea what to say and didn’t recover for about half an hour. And he informed me... well, he asked me why I had bought it and I said well, I said we need a car. I said, “If we are going to go to Oklahoma, I said we have to have a car.” So, I said, “We have a car.” He said, “How did you get
that here?” I said, “Oh. Jim drove it.” So, he said, “I don’t believe this. I just don't believe it.” He said, “Do you have insurance on this?” I said, “Oh, yes. I got insurance on it before I drove it out.” So, he said, “Well, how are you going to pay for this?” I said, “Well, don’t fret. Don’t worry about it. It's already paid for.” So, it took him about two weeks. All I got from him was a mumble. He just couldn’t find words to say. But he would shake his head every once in a while.”
Interviewer: “It was then he realized he was married to a very capable woman.”
Cronin: “I guess. I guess. But anyway, I did go down the following day and enlist in a driving salon. And I took lessons and learned to drive under the 3rd Avenue el in the Bronx in New York. So, I felt that I was capable of driving in any place in the country. But I was forty years old when I did that.”
Interviewer: “You mentioned that you were a teacher and a real estate agent, and I also know that you are a writer. Can you talk about those occupations? And you did those in Oklahoma, right?”
Cronin: “I did those in Oklahoma, and I did the teaching in New York, because my children went to Sacred Heart Academy and I volunteered to be a substitute teacher at that school because I felt that I would be with them and they would not have a working mother, per say. In other words, wherever they were, I would be. And I would be home when they were home. Which I felt was very important. And as far as... that was when I was in New York. When I came out here to Oklahoma, I volunteered to teach the... to help the children with their reading and with their math. And I did that for about 24 years. Even after the children were out of school and went to secondary and college. And I did it up to six years... seven years ago when I developed macular degeneration and I had to stop driving and stop teaching and all rest of it. As far as the real estate is concerned, if I said that I did not want to work at a steady job when my children were in school. And it wasn’t until my son was in his senior at Bishop McGuiness High School that I took the real estate exam. And then a year later, I took the brokers exam and got my broker's license. And I sold real estate for 18 years.”
Interviewer: “What lessons has your work life taught you?”
Cronin: “Oh. Most people are good and nice to deal with. And I’ve enjoyed working with them and getting to know them. I’ve enjoyed most of the things that I've done in life.”
Interviewer: “And I know you were quite active in your pair at St. Charles. You talked about tutoring, you were part of the program called “Charlie’s Angels,” which was a reading program to children. And I know you received awards from parish and so forth. I was wondering if you could talk about some of the opportunity, the volunteer opportunities you were involved with at St. Charles and what parish was like?”
Cronin: “Oh, the road was muddy when I first started at St. Charles, because the school was new. When it rained, it rained into the basement. But there were lot of opportunities as far as helping was concerned, because you had to... we had dinners because we had to raise money. We had a
food program. It's like the food banks we have now, except we did it on a smaller scale. And St. Charles was one of the first to start that program and we did it three days a week. We did it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And we had people from the area come in. Let’s see. I was President of the Altar Society for six years, because I had two terms. I enjoyed that. We used to have dinners every month; different ethnic group. We’d have, maybe, Mexican one month. We’d have Irish the next, then Polish the next, and whatnot. And we had bazaars once a year to raise money. We did manage... well, in the beginning, we started in the auditorium. And then we built the church after that; when we had enough funds. But it was kind of fun, because the parish has grown now to the degree where you don’t... well, you’re not able to get around. If you go to the 5 o’clock mass, you see the same people at the 5 o’clock mass, but you don’t get to see the people of the 8:30 mass or the 11 o’clock mass. So, it’s... you're not apt to know quite so many people now. Just as there is a lot of opportunity now for the people to do volunteer work, there was all kind of volunteer work to do. You had people working on the lawns. You had people working in the classrooms. You had people volunteering to do all kinds of things.”
Interviewer: “You are what’s called a “Cradle Catholic”, right?”
Cronin: “Yes.”
Interviewer: “And can you talk about how Catholicism has changed over the years? I know you probably remember a time you fasted before for midnight to and kind of the changes you’ve seen.”
Cronin: “My, let’s see, the changes in 1965 were very problematic for a lot of people. You had... I can’t say they bothered me. They didn’t. Because... now, they bothered my husband and for 20 years he did not go to church, because he could not understand why the changes were necessary. And, you know, if you had done something for 1965 years, it’s good enough then, it should be... it should not be allowed to be changed. If you could not touch the host when you were growing up, what makes you think it is alright to do it now? So, he had a lot of problems with it. I didn’t. It’s... but then, you know, I always look at life as that glass thing. Half full. And to him, he was always rather suspect. You know, he was not the optimist, but I was. So, we were opposites.”
Interviewer: “You were married for 50...?”
Cronin: “I was married for 51 years.”
Interviewer: “And what advice would you have for young couples?”
Cronin: “Oh. Don’t give up too easily. Talk your problems through. Don’t keep secrets. Be honest and trusting as far as your partner is concerned.”
Interviewer: “You have... you and your husband had three children.”
Cronin: “We had three children.”
Interviewer: “And I was wondering if you could tell me who they are, when they were born, and a little about them.”
Cronin: “Let’s see. My son, Davin, was born on December 28th, 1947. And my daughter, Ellen, was born July 16th, 1949. And my son Brian, who’s now deceased, was born on June 3rd, 1963. So, let’s see. Davin has his own business. He's in remodeling. Ellen, my daughter, is a librarian. She is library administrator for the Tulsa Public Schools, and she’s in charge of 78 libraries and a hundred and some odd librarians. And as I said my son, Brian, was an architect. But he is deceased. He died when he was 35.”
Interviewer: “Do you have any favorite stories of your children when they were growing up?”
Cronin: “No, not really. They... I enjoyed watching them grow up and I can’t say they were very angelic. But they weren’t angels by any matter of means. Ellen finished high school in three years. Oh, I can tell you about my car. I had a special car, a roadster. And I... which I dearly loved, and it was a Ford Fairlane. And I used to have to take it in every week to have it repaired and I was convinced I had a lemon. I really didn’t have a lemon. I had a very good car, but I had a son who would take that car and race it on Friday nights and I had no idea until years later when he confessed to the fact that he used to take my car out every Friday night and race it with a friend of his. And, to this day, I don’t know where he raced it.”
Interviewer: “Maybe it’s best not to...”
Cronin: “When they told me, the store, that something was happening to this during the week I kept saying no. No, my children wouldn’t do that.”
Interviewer: “How has being a parent changed you?”
Cronin: Oh, I learned to be more considerate, I think. I was grateful for my children. Grateful for the things they taught me. They taught me to be tolerant and understanding.”
Interviewer: “Do you remember when your last child left home for good?”
Cronin: “Oh, yes. That was my son Brian. And he had just got his degree in architecture from the University of Oklahoma. He was leaving for Houston. See, Davin had gotten married when he was 17, and Ellen had gotten married when she was out of college for two years. So, Brian was really the last... and I think the baby, or the last one to leave, is always the hardest. But he went to Houston and he designed homes and helped... worked with a developer. And he went to Hawaii and picked up some kind of bug, which they could not treat. And he came back to the city, or he came back to Houston, and he was dead six months later. Because they had nothing to take care of. They didn’t have any serum to take care of what he had, so he died. Let's see, he died in 1988 and it was very difficult. Because he was only 35 years old and he had so much to live for. He was engaged to be married and there was nothing we could do about it.”
Interviewer: “And that would obviously have to be one of the most difficult experiences.”
Cronin: “That was probably the most difficult... the hardest thing I ever had to go through in my life. Because he was the son I was closest to.”
Interviewer: “Can you offer any words to someone else who might be going through the same experience?”
Cronin: “Well, just hang on and hang in there. And what you have to do is remember that God gave you a gift and a gift isn’t a gift unless you give it away. And you have to... your children are just lent to you. They're not given to you, they’re not something that you own. You just take them as gifts and treat them as best you can, love them as much as you can, and remember the good times you had when they were here and how happy they made your life. So you have to dwell on the part that was good, not the part that was difficult.”
Interviewer: “Have you experienced any miracles? Other than the three miracles in your life, besides that?”
Cronin: “Oh, I don’t know. I think a couple of times I remember being at the beach one time and being taken in the undertow at Rockaway Park and wondering how I got out of that. And then another time I lost a child through a miscarriage and almost died.”
Interviewer: “You almost died?”
Cronin: “I almost died. And I wasn’t expected to live. So, I think the very fact that I've lived as long as I have is kind of a miracle. Because I am the oldest member of my generation who is still alive. I have a brother who is 81, but he has Parkinson's and he has Alzheimer's. And he doesn’t know or remember anybody. So...”
Interviewer: “What would you say is the most profound spiritual moment of your life?”
Cronin: “I think when I had my children I realized I'd been given a tremendous gift. And that’s for all of them. I was glad when I had the boy first, and then Ellen, who is the girl. And then my son, Brian. And I was always so... it always seems such a miracle to me that they were... that God had given me three such perfect children. And when I say perfect I mean healthy and we were all... they were alright.”
Interviewer: “Do you believe in the afterlife and what do you think it would be like?”
Cronin: “Oh, yes. I believe in the afterlife. I've got a lot of questions for God. I really have... he’s done some things to me that I don’t quite understand, but that’s alright. And yes, I do, definitely, believe in the afterlife.”
Interviewer: “Well, you were always a vital person. We worked together on the St. Charles Chatter. We wrote, and we edited, and we did lots of things together. And several years ago, you lost your eyesight to macular degeneration, and I'm wondering if you could talk about what that was like and how you’ve coped, and you’ve adapted.”
Cronin: “I didn’t cope very well, really. Because I thought all the way and I guess I learned it’s kind of... I was going to say it was a game, but it's not. It’s not a game, it’s... I was completely unprepared for it. Because I had gone to the doctor every year of my life. I had gone to an ophthalmologist. They had my eyes checked. And nobody had ever mentioned the words macular degeneration to me. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. I remember when they... the nurse had me sit in the chair and said, “Now, I want you to read this and I'm going to cover your eye, or you hold this over your eye,” and I could do one eye and it was just fine. And she had me change it and nothing. Just blackness. And I said I can't. I said, “I can’t see anything. It's just black.” And I said, “Oh my God. I’m blind.””
Interviewer: “And you didn’t realize before that?”
Cronin: “And she said, “Oh, you sit there. I'm going to call the doctor.” And she called him in. I said, “What is this?” And he said, “You have macular degeneration.” I said, “I have been coming to you every year for the last however many years. 20-something-odd years since we’ve been out here. And I said, “You have never, ever mentioned those words to me. I don’t know what they are. And he said, “You’re going to lose your sight.” Well, I sat there, and I was stunned. Of course, he had... he let me sit there for a while. He said, “Now I’m going to make an appointment with a retinologist with you.” And that’s when I got to Doctor Hubbard. And he said, “We’ll get you an appointment tomorrow.” So I realized whatever was the matter with me was serious. It was quite a while before it got worse. But I went to Dr. Hubbard and Dr. Hubbard explained the situation to me and told me I had some bleeding behind the eye, and he did some laser.”
Interviewer: “And when you lost sight in your other eye, it was sudden, wasn’t it?”
Cronin: “Yeah.”
Interviewer: “Can you tell me about that?”
Cronin: “It’s just... you know... I realized that something had happened to me, and I called the doctor right away. I got to see him and of course, he said, “Well, this was dry.” There was nothing that he could do about it, so I have one wet and one dry. Which not everybody gets. But anyways, I had to... for a while, I was able to drive my car. I would go up to school and do my volunteer work. Then I stopped going to St. Charles and I went to the public schools to do some volunteer work because it was closer, and the roads were more familiar. And then I realized I had to stop driving. I could not drive. And I just had a new Toyota Camry, which I couldn’t drive anymore. But anyway.”
Interviewer: “Did you want to tell me that you were reading at church and all of a sudden?”
Cronin: “I was reading at church when the second one happened. And I had been practicing all day, all week, because it was a lector. And I'm up, before mass started, to look at the book and to make sure, you know, I was going to do. The words in one book were not any different in another book. And I got up to do... to read the missal and I just opened the book, and I looked at
it, and I couldn’t read. I couldn’t see the page; I couldn’t see the print. And I got hold of the man in charge of the lectors. He was right there, and I went down and I said, “I can’t see.””
Interviewer: “So you had to leave the altar...”
Cronin: “So I had to leave the altar and come down and go over to him and say, “You’re going to have to do that for me. I can't do it. I can't see anymore.” And they kept me on the lecture list for another six months until they realized, she wasn’t going to get any better.”
Interviewer: “Do you have any words of advice for someone facing that kind of loss and how to best go on with the rest of your life?”
Cronin: “Well, first it makes you very angry. And then you realize that you have to let go of the anger, because anger... the one thing I learned in life is that anger gets you nowhere. It hurts nobody but yourself. If you’re angry at something, you’ve got to get rid of it. Because the only person it hurts is yourself. So, I was angry. And I was angry with God. And, you know, it’s alright to be angry with God. So, I knew that I could no longer read. And I read, possibly, four to five books a week. And I could no longer do that. I could no longer drive my car. And I could no longer really and truly live alone. And I realized that the only thing I could do for my children was to give them the gift of me coming to live in a retirement home. And I said, I said to them, “I just came over here one day and filled out an application.” And I was told I'd have six months to nine months to get ready to do this. And I remember going into the chapel before I left, and I said, “Now, God. This is in your hands. Whatever you decide, I'll do.” They called me the next morning and told me they had an apartment, and could I be ready to move in a week. So, then I told my children. And I said, “It’s the only gift I have left to give you.” I said, “I can give you money,” but I said, “that’s, you know... that’s not what you need. You don’t need to be worried about me.” And they said, “It isn’t the best, but it’s next to best.””
Interviewer: “And despite your limited vision, you are very active here. Can you talk about some of the activities and the bazaar that you planned last week and some of the volunteer activities you have here?”
Cronin: “I have to be active. Because if I'm not... if I’m not active, I just get very depressed. So, I have to keep moving, and I do keep moving by, well, trying to help them organize trips here. Now, I may not be able to take the trips, or do the things, but I can organize them. And I do. So that keeps me busy. And I have some very good friends, like you, who keep in touch with me. And I have my friends, the Graftons, who take me out to breakfast every Saturday morning and who check up on me. We go out Thursday evening. So, you know, I do get out. And my kids are good. Ellen comes down from Tulsa and Davin comes from around the block and they keep in touch with me, so I'm very fortunate. I have nothing to complain about, really. And I don’t know what God has in store for me. Right now, my eyesight is stable and I'm grateful for that. But if God gives you a lemon, you make lemonade. That’s all I can tell you. And you just, and that’s what I tried to do.”
Interviewer: “Well, thank you. You were kind enough to invite me to represent the library at the bazaar, and the open house you planned last week, and that’s why Oklahoma Voices is here today. We just really appreciate you taking your time here to share your life.”
Cronin: “Well, it’s been a pleasure. I hope it was okay.”