THE FINAL WEEK

On Tuesday, February 24, 2015 one of my former managers at Notre Dame, Mike Gurdak, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., went on one of the internet sites that covers Notre Dame and saw someone had posted that Father Ted Hesburgh was gravely ill.

So I called him. "Mike, that's not true," I said because I just didn't want to hear that. I didn't want to face it.

I immediately called Melanie Chapleau, who had served as Father Ted's office assistant the last 28 years. "What's going on with Father Ted?" She said, "Well, he's okay, but he's over at the Holy Cross House."

There were times when Father Ted had health issues, but after a week or two, he would bounce back and would be good for six months.

But in the winter he had to hibernate to some degree. He just couldn't go many places because of the South Bend weather. Once in a while, Melanie and others would take him to his office across campus on the 13th floor of the library named in his honor.

So, that day I went to the 11:30 a.m. Mass at Holy Cross House, which is where most of the priests live. That is the time they concelebrate mass each weekday. As he was coming in with his nurse in a wheelchair, I put my hand out, leaned down and said, "Fr. Ted, it's Digger."

He said to me, "Pray for me."

That hit me, It was the first time in 44 years he said that to me. I still tear up today when I think about him saying that to me. I had asked him to pray for me many times and he had given me special blessings and guidance when I was going through prostate and bladder cancer within the last six years.

I got myself together and said, "That's why I am here."

He went up front with the other priests where he always sat to concelebrate the Mass.

After Mass, I waited for him and said, "I said prayers for you today."

I then said, "Please, give me a blessing!" So he took his thumb and blessed me on the forehead.

He went into the cafeteria and I spoke with Jim and Mary, his brother and sister-in-law in the hallway outside.

All of a sudden the nurse came out and said to me, "He wants to talk to you. Come inside."

So I went inside and sat down at his table next to him. Father Don McNeill was sitting there also and when I sat down, Father Don said to Father Hesburgh, "Oh, you've got the coach that beat UCLA here to see you."

"Forget UCLA," I said. "Father Ted was 7-0 on our bench. Remember when we beat No. 1 DePaul in double overtime, Father? He was there for that one too."

I went into my pep talk mode.

"We're going to win this." He said, "Win what?" I said, "This game with your health. We have to keep you strong and keep praying. You're going to be fine. The weather is bad now, but it is going to get better. We just need to get you to the spring. You just have to take care and make sure you're eating and keeping your strength up."

I then said, "By the way, your hometown team beat Notre Dame last night."

Father Hesburgh was from Syracuse, NY and Jim Boeheim's team had beaten the Irish the previous night in an upset at Notre Dame. He replied, "I heard that."

We visited for about 20 minutes. His mind was still sharp and he knew what was going on. That was a good sign to me, but I decided I wanted to go to this Mass every day and see him.

The next day, Wednesday Feb. 25, 2015, I went back to the 11:30 a.m. service. I had gone to these Masses before through Jim Gibbons, who worked for Father Hesburgh in many capacities in public relations, event planning and fund raising. He was a student-athlete, baseball and basketball coach in the 1950s and 1960s, then went into administration.

He is a Notre Dame institution.

Now retired, he still came to these Masses each day and served as a defacto altar boy, assisting the priests with the various duties during the Mass. The only other people there besides the priests were members of Father Hesburgh's family.

On this day, I told Father Ted that Linda (Costas) my fiancée, whom he knew, said hello. After Mass I again went into the dining room and sat next to him.

"You're the Godfather of the Civil Rights Act," I said. "You're the one who got me coaching the streets."

He smiled and said to me, "I want you to keep coaching the streets." He was still motivating me. That was his mission with so many. He was the master motivator over the years, but more on that later.

He just sat and looked from his wheelchair at the table. I continued the conversation.

"Remember when I came to get a blessing before my bladder cancer surgery? After you blessed me before the bladder cancer surgery you said, 'Digger, have the courage.'

I always remembered that and keep that note in my wallet to this day." Have the courage.

Keeping that note makes me feel like Fr. Hesburgh is there with me. On this day, I wanted him to know that.

So, I said to him before I left, "Father Ted, have the courage."

As I left I just kept thinking he would be OK. It didn't seem like anything specifically was wrong. He just had a cold like he had before and was a little down. I still kept positive and believed he would get through it.

On Wednesday night, Linda asked if she could go to the Thursday Mass. I thought about it and said, "Sure, I will pick you up from work." Linda has a position in Notre Dame administration in human resources.

I still remember the first time I brought Linda to meet Father Ted in his office on the 13th floor of the Hesburgh Library.

Linda is Jewish, but she knew all about Fr. Hesburgh and his legacy as Notre Dame's longest serving president from 1952-87 and his impact on civil rights in this country.

When we walked in, Fr. Hesburgh was behind his desk smoking a Cuban cigar. I didn't know if it was one of the cigars I had gotten him, but I always tried to keep him stocked. Smoking a good Cuban cigar was one his private passions.

One of the first things I said that day as I looked out his office window at the Blessed Mother on the Golden Dome was, "Mary was Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. Mary Magdalene was Jewish. Linda is Jewish. Linda is my Mary Magdalene."

He started looking at me with a "Where are you going with this?" expression.

"Father, they were all Jewish back then."

He went to her and blessed her on the forehead and said, "You're going to need that with this guy."

She thought she had just met the Pope and didn't wash her forehead for three days.

You talk about things happening for a reason at a certain place and time! There are spiritual powers.

We arrived at the chapel on Thursday morning and Fr. Ted came in the door in his wheelchair at that exact moment. I said, "Father, it's Digger and I have Linda here today."

He could hardly see because he was limited by macular degeneration, but he could see the shadow of her figure. He said to her, "Give me a kiss." He kissed her right on the lips. I told his brother Jim and Mary Hesburgh, who were sitting in the last row,...