Thieves Took Most Treasured Mementos

The other night thieves stole Meghan Flaherty’s cherished mementos of her dad, Mark.

They took a bracelet made from the rosary beads used at his funeral last winter. They took a letter he wrote to Meghan when she graduated from Ferris High.

They took photographs and Mark’s “four rules” for success. He jotted them down and sent them to her one day last fall during her first semester at Washington State University:

1. Eat well.

2. Sleep well.

3. Study consistently.

4. Have fun.

That last rule, says Meghan, is pretty difficult to follow right now. Losing so many irreplaceable belongings has put this young Spokane woman in a funk, reliving her darkest hour when she should be looking forward to going back to college.

“My kids are doing so well making it through this tough time,” says Meghan’s mom, Mary Helen. “Every day we’re working hard to make good things happen.

“This isn’t fair.”

Mark Flaherty, 45, died of a sudden heart attack last Dec. 12 after working out in a Spokane health club. He was a well-known social worker with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. He was a past director of the Spokane AIDS Network.

The thieves couldn’t have known all they were taking. They just saw a station wagon filled with boxes. They broke into the silver Ford Taurus that was locked and parked in the Flaherty driveway sometime in the dark hours Wednesday.

The Flahertys hope whoever did it has a sliver of a soul left. At least enough to give back the personal items. You can leave them on the porch or call me at (509) 459-5432. Just give them back, no questions asked.

“We can replace a computer and video camera, things like that,” says Mary Helen. “But they took everything that made Meghan Meghan.”

The thieves took pictures she had drawn, concert and homecoming T-shirts and dozens of other things valuable only to Meghan. They took school supplies that were a gift from the Heights Home Center, where Meghan worked this summer.

Meghan spent much of last Tuesday packing the belongings she needed to start her sophomore year at WSU.

Meghan hasn’t declared a major yet, but is contemplating a career in law. After this experience, she’ll probably want to become a prosecutor.

“I was so organized in my packing. I was really proud of myself,” says Meghan. “I duct-taped everything, wrote my name on the boxes. It all fit perfectly in the car.”

Meghan went to bed about 1:30 a.m. Everything was still safe in the car, perhaps a dozen feet from the front door of the Flahertys’ modest home at 2315 S. Rebecca.

“It’s so weird. I pack everything I own in my car. Then I wake up and I don’t own anything any more,” says Meghan.

The Flahertys are good people, known for their service to the community. Mark was such a Ferris booster that the final edition of the student newspaper devoted half of a page to him.

Mary Helen is the publisher of “Kids”, a monthly tabloid that focuses on the area’s stand-out young students and educators.

Now, after Mark’s death, Mary Helen finds herself trying to adjust to the reality of raising four teenagers alone.

But the Flahertys have borne each other up. Meghan, for example, spent the last week painting a bright mural for her mother on the garage wall that faces the kitchen window.

She videotaped a fun-loving documentary of her artistic progress, making humorous observations as the painting took shape.

Mary Helen never saw Meghan’s tape. It was in the camera the thieves snagged.

“Unless you go through it, you can’t understand the emotional ramifications of something like this,” says Mary Helen. “It’s just so sad.”