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Geri Granahan A Life a keepsake from Memoir for Me memoirforme com

To the best mom in the world

God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers

Geri with Maggie Finn Caitlin and Danny in 2013 Geraldine Geri Wright Granahan was kind and unassuming with a quiet confidence about her She taught her two daughters to stand up for their rights and correct injustice when wronged She was a fighter She was soft spoken and nice but if someone tried to mess with her she could be a bulldog said her oldest daughter Mary Jo And don t even think about skimping on her fast food order If we ordered some fries at McDonalds and they didn t fill the bag she d have us go back and ask for more said her youngest daughter Kelly with a laugh Geri s larger battles were even more inspiring She battled cancer for much of her adult life but enjoyed every minute she could especially with her grandkids Two of these grandchildren Caitlin and Maggie were quick to comment on Geri s lost hair and changing appearance as only children can get away with They said Grammy people may laugh at you but we still love you said Geri in 2015 5

Snarky comments aside it was these little ones Danny Caitlin Maggie Finn and Molly who kept Geri s perspective positive and spirits high for so long Despite bi weekly chemo treatments Geri babysat frequently and saved enough energy to keep up with the energetic youngsters Her identical twin sister Jackie had 10 grandkids before my mom had any so she was VERY anxious to have some little guys running around said Kelly Then they all came at once In addition to her grandkids her daughters were a point of pride Those girls turned out well They are good moms they re hard working and patient said Geri Raising these two young women has been one of the most memorable moments of Geri s life I loved it said Geri Mo was a feisty kid She once ran up on the altar during mass did a few somersaults and then ran out the back door She was a night owl and wouldn t nap Meanwhile Kelly didn t give her much of a break I d be up all day with Mo then Kelly would be up all night with stomach pains But if you ask the girls they were perfect and didn t require much in the way of discipline There were certain things she was stern about said older daughter Mary Jo But for the most part she was a softie Or maybe Kelly and I were just really good She was a great mom said Kelly She never ruled with an iron 6 Celebrating a birthday in 1978 Is this epic road trip of 1979

Geri far left with extended family including her many nieces and nephews 1998 fist I don t remember much yelling but then again Mo and I were always angels While Geri wasn t much of a disciplinarian that didn t mean she didn t worry about her kids She was a bit of a worry wart said Kelly She was always concerned about the weather Growing up she bought my sister and I pee wee football helmets and made us stand in the hallway wearing them during tornado warnings Even as her daughters grew up Geri would send text messages and phone calls to alert them that a storm is coming My mom watched the weather channel like it was a TV drama said Kelly She was our own personal weather alert system Geri was a mother to two but an aunt to many more To many of these younger nieces and nephews she was even more than that We have this whole generation of cousins who grew up without a grandmother said Mary Jo My mom stepped in and filled this role as a pseudo grandma None of them were local so she always remembered to call send a card or mail a gift for birthdays or graduations Her loyal and generous nature was evident through all the babysitting 7

and long distance phone calls She always put family first said Kelly She would do anything for her family Geri s strong character provided a good model for her daughters She was always so giving I want to be like her be there for people I ve very conscious of it because of her example said Mary Jo Geri s commitment to family started when she was young Growing up with six other siblings Geri often was the caretaker First came George in 1942 Then Geri and her twin sister Jackie came in 1943 Then came Tom in 1945 Dick in 1952 and seven years later came another set of twins Mary Lou and Tim in 1959 Geri s mom Virginia was 47 when the second set of twins came along A year later she was diagnosed with breast cancer and then rheumatoid arthritis The young twins needed a lot of care and Geri was there to help I m really close to those two I helped raise them said Geri in 2015 Geri s father George was a jack of all trades He worked at Midway Airport in an air traffic control tower managed a rental equipment store designed and sold swing sets at Backyards America and even owned and operated several restaurants My father was always trying to invent something 8 Geri and Jackie with their father George Wright in 1944 confirm which is which

Need names 1956 This varying career path took his family all over the country Geri was born on the south side of Chicago but moved seven times before she had graduated from high school First moves remained within Illinois from Berwyn to Riverside then north to Northbrook and then Glenview Then in 1952 when Geri was in fifth grade the family headed west We drove out to Colorado for a vacation and never came back said Geri Reflecting on her mom s transient childhood daughter Mary Jo says she and her sister are lucky My mom wanted to give Kelly and I stability as kids because she never had that growing up The Wrights lived in Colorado Springs for seven years where the kids ice skated in winter and rode horses and slept outside under stars in the summer With so much moving Geri had few close friends in those early school years but luckily she got along well with her brothers and sisters The Wright kids all enjoyed hanging out and even conspired together One time I remember we locked the babysitter out of the house I didn t act alone My brother Tom was the instigator of the whole plan said Geri 9

And being an identical twin had its advantages at school Jackie and I switched places a few times for tests once in awhile I remember taking her typing test and she took my French test The twins it turns out were pretty good at being twins At the age of 6 Jackie and Geri won a National Twin Contest during the 1950 Chicago World s Fair My mom had these dresses made for it and everything It was completely her idea but I think Jackie and I had fun with it Geri and her twin sister formed a bond that would last their whole life As adults Geri and Jackie lived less than 10 miles from each other and still sometimes acted like they were still kids My mom and aunt liked to spy on people said Mary Jo If there was a guy that I liked they would get us in the car and drive by the house just to take a look They were like two detectives Geri and Jackie even joined in the kids neighborhood horseplay In high school Kelly and I hung out with a big group of guys and we d always be looking for ways to play tricks on them said Mary Jo One year my mom and Aunt Jackie came with us to TP their houses In contrast Geri s childhood wasn t all fun and play All the older Wright kids worked in the restaurants to help out washing dishes and helping in the kitchen of the Bit and Bridle or the Red Onion while in Colorado Geri reflected on her childhood in 2015 Our friends would be out playing but my sister Jackie and I were waiting tables at the age of 13 10 Geri and her twin Jackie in the late 1950s

Geri 1960 Summer vacations were highly anticipated to go to Grandma and Grandpa Wright s house in Charlevoix Michigan Geri remembers playing croquet going to the beach and just hanging out with her siblings and many other Wright cousins Those were great memories said Geri After five years in Colorado the family returned to Berwyn Illinois Geri was an 11th grader at Morton West and hated every minute The cliques were already formed I felt very alone Luckily the family moved once again back to Glenview where she finished her senior year at Glenbrook North At least at this school she had friends formed from before the move west Geri graduated in 1961 and took a class at Northwestern She had thoughts of being a teacher However George being less than a year older and her twin sister Jackie also had college dreams The family couldn t afford to put three kids through college at the same time So in 1961 Geri traded in her books for a paycheck She started off in retail working at Marshall Field Company then worked for three years as an assistant in a clinical research department for a large pharmaceutical company At the same time Geri s sister Jackie left for New Orleans after her husband was transferred by the Navy 11

I wanted to get down there to visit and thought working for an airline would be a great idea said Geri After long and arduous interview process out of Atlanta Geri started at Delta in 1968 They were really strict You had to have your hair a certain length You had to have a certain shade of lipstick The work itself was challenging Geri was working ticketing before they had computers doing much of the work There was a lot of math involved Anytime a flight was cancelled you had to deal with all those angry customers and find them all other flights manually said Geri It was a really stressful job In addition to on the job challenges the hours were long and irregular She would be picked up at 3am by an airport shuttle to be at O Hare Airport before the morning commuters Personal safety was also a concern walking to and from work in an empty airport with security more focused on the safety of passengers Employee only areas of the airport were desolate and often unsecure My mom was very strong said daughter Kelly Working for the airlines all those years and traveling by herself made her very independent Other perils came with the job In 1970 Geri unknowingly sold a ticket to a hijacker booking him on a flight from Chicago to Nashville The flight ended up being cancelled and she helped him find a room at a nearby hotel The next morning he was scheduled on to a new flight to Nashville But the plane never made it there He hijacked the aircraft and diverted the whole plane to Cuba Thankfully the FBI was able to identify and arrest him 12 Jackie Madeline Ann and Geri 1969 Geri traveling with Rose last name 1969

Enjoying the perks of working in travel 1966 Working for the airlines did have perks to counterbalance all this stress They could fly for free anywhere in the world At that time it was so easy for us to fly because flights rarely sold out We were spoiled said Geri People would take first class flights just for the china service and a nice dinner Thanks to Delta Geri has been all over the world And prior to having a family she often traveled with work colleague Karen Bruce Olson who shared her love for exploration In 1969 Geri and Karen flew first class to Europe enjoying 7 course meals on fine china They went to 8 different countries in 10 days including Nice in the south of France Geri took a trip alone to Lourdes a pilgrimage to get some holy water to bring back to her sick mom The trip was an adventure I slept in a hotel lobby because there was a priest convention at the same time and I couldn t find a room said Geri All I had with me was my French dictionary On the train ride back to meet up with Karen she took the wrong train and almost ended up in Germany Geri did make it back and her previously bedridden mom was soon up and walking after using the holy water on her sore joints 13

Besides the fine china and lavish meals Delta Airlines brought another blessing into Geri s life in 1970 she met Dennis Den Granahan Den was working in customer service for Delta in the air freight department His roommate Angus McGannon worked ticketing with Geri and invited her to a party at their apartment one Saturday night We liked each other right off the bat Our first date was at the Brookfield Zoo said Geri More dates followed and Den and Geri were soon married November 5th 1971 The couple moved into a small house on School Street in Mt Prospect in a neighborhood filled with other airport workers They had a shuttle that went up and down the streets If you had your outside light on they knew you needed a ride A year after getting married the couple s first child came along Mary Jo was born in 1972 and then came Kelly Maureen in 1974 Geri had left Delta but Den was still with the airline so the family took advantage of the traveling perks frequently I loved traveling with the girls said Geri We went to Hawaii Boston Dallas Florida Louisiana San Diego Back then it was so easy to get on a plane Geri and Den with their first baby Mary Jo 1972

Den and Geri in the early 1970s Geri and her mom Virginia 1980s With Geri s relatives spread out all over the country many trips were made just to keep people together We went on a lot of nice trips said Mary Jo But the best ones were to see family The family also took an epic road trip in 1979 At this point her sister Jackie had moved back to the Midwest and lived in nearby Glenview with her family All the kids loved being together so much they decided to drive to California all ten of them plus a dog in one van It was a memorable trip despite the close quarters thanks to the beauty of Mt Rushmore But their drive back took a little longer than expected The group stopped at a rest area to have some lunch and let Geri s dog Finn get a bit of fresh air They tied his leash to a nearby picnic table while they ate After lunch they got back on the road We got 80 miles away before we realized we left the dog there said Geri They turned the van around and thankfully Finn was still there wagging his tail and happy to see his family again In 1988 Geri was diagnosed with breast cancer She fought it for the next year and beat it thanks to an aggressive chemo treatment advised by Dr Martin Marty Murphy Marty and Geri happened to share a past together dating during high school Thirty years later Dr Murphy was acting head of the Hipple Cancer Research Center out of Dayton Ohio When Geri was first diagnosed her brother Jack still friendly with Marty connected the two Marty recommended a course of action even offering a different opinion from Geri s own doctor She followed his lead 15

He is one of the most positive people I know said Geri I m sure he is the only reason I got through it That plus my prayers Her faith was always very strong said Kelly It helped her carry on and gave her strength After beating cancer in the late 80s Geri has fought her way through other medical roadblocks including an appendectomy in 1999 and a double knee replacement in 2001 She has been in and out of the hospital so much said Mary Jo It s never broken her spirit I don t watch any hospital shows for entertainment said Geri In 2012 Geri went to her doctor with pains in her stomach Again they found cancer That July she endured a complicated and traumatic surgery removing her spleen and part of her pancreas The recovery period was long and painful Doctors did their best to try to remove the source of her cancer but it had spread further into her stomach She fought cancer for another four years undergoing chemotherapy every two weeks Through it all she remained positive Reflecting on her ongoing cancer battle in 2015 Geri quickly admits being sick changed her perspective on life Geri and Den 1996 16

On daughter Mary Jo s wedding day in 2005 I appreciate every day I get in as much grandkid time in as I can and I live in the moment After battling cancer for so many years Geri passed away in 2016 Her nieces and nephews grandchildren daughters and loving husband Den miss her every day She was a role model to many My mom has always led by example She is what a person woman and mom should be said Kelly Mary Jo agrees She has always taught me to never give up always keep fighting and to enjoy life said Mary Jo Perhaps Geri summed it up best in 2015 while looking back on her life I ve had a great life I always think about how lucky we are to have what we have 17