Computers were one of the changes that Menotti took to, through the years. She recalls pioneering the installation of a computer lab in the Galveston-Houston Catholic diocese. This was in the 1980s, during the 12 years she served as school principal in her hometown of Dickinson.
“Within a few years, we had 10 or 12 [computers] and then got up to about 20,” she said. “I had a good friend that worked at RadioShack.”
Menotti placed computers at the fingertips of 4-year-olds. She then hand-wrote letters to parishioners telling them how it was cheaper to send their children to True Cross Catholic School than to place them in daycare, she said. Today, Menotti helps the sisters at OLV Center take care of and train on 30-plus computers.
When asked what she does for fun, Menotti paused before saying that when not using her computer, taking courses at Tarrant County College, or teaching others about computers, she enjoys gardening and picnicking on the grounds of the retirement center.
“Last week, I fixed a big pot of gumbo for the sisters,” she said. “And, oh, they devoured it.”
Menotti said the sisters at OLV pray together several times each day in the center’s chapel. She pointed out the row of emerald stained-glass windows salvaged from the old facility’s confessional and greeted a sister visiting from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Later, she talked about having surgery to repair a rotator cuff, injured while she was pruning some tall trees at the center. She also talked about her battle with cancer: Menotti was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone and blood, about seven years ago but said she is not in pain right now.
“It’s still bad, but I don’t take medicine for it,” she said. She had weekly chemotherapy infusions for several years but stopped about 2010 because she was tired of feeling sick.
“Stuff like that slows you down,” she said. “They say you can live 10 years with it. I’ve got a few years left.”
Menotti said she will need to have an X-ray done soon. During her last visit she told her doctor she would see him in a year; they settled on six months.
What an interesting and inspiring story of life.