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Capturing Memories

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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: December 6, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - When Margaret Callija was a child in rural Connecticut, she often heard tales about the man on the moon.

When she was almost 60, Callija witnessed one of the most memorable moments of her lifetime: Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walking on the moon on television.

On a recent weekday, Callija, 98, participated in Hernando Pasco Hospice's Legacy Program, where patients are interviewed on camera about their lives. The product of an era when it wasn't uncommon for children to walk two miles to school, Callija described herself simply.

"I'm just an old Connecticut Yankee," she said.

The Legacy Program interviews are transferred to DVD and given to the patient's family. Callija's interview will go to a niece in Norwich, Conn.

Since the Legacy Program was created in 2005, more than 200 patients have been profiled in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties.

"It's no charge to the patient or their family, and we make as many copies of the DVD as they want at no charge," said Jane Freeman, the agency's communications specialist. "We don't edit the video. We want to maintain the integrity of the tape.

"So many people want to share the life of their loved ones with their children or other loved one. This might be the only way grandchildren can get to know their grandparent or aunt or uncle."

A cancer survivor, Callija takes pride in keeping her home clean and organized, but she has received care from the hospice since July 2007.

In the interview conducted by volunteer coordinator Sheena Thompson, Callija said she spent her childhood playing hopscotch, jump rope, follow the leader and baseball.

"I played hooky from school and ran away from home once," she said with a laugh. "I'm not very proud of that."

The granddaughter of German immigrants, she was raised in a family that grew its own produce and had its meat delivered in a wagon by the local butcher.

As a teenager, she said, "I wanted to be modern."

"I was one of the first ones in my neighborhood who wanted to be like city people," she said. "It wasn't much different than what teenagers want to do nowadays. I remember my first beau. He sat in back of me and used to pull my braids."

Eventually, she married Anthony George Callija, who she met on a blind date. While he fought in World War II, she worked in a defense plant.

She also worked as a baby-sitter and a beautician. She enjoyed raising cocker spaniels and working in her garden.

"You might find some dust in my house," she said with pride. "But you'd never see a weed in my garden."

The Callijas moved to Florida in 1977, and her memories of her late husband are clearly happy, despite the saying on a wall decoration in her kitchen:

"If more husbands were self-starters the wife wouldn't have to be a crank."

Life wasn't always easy in Connecticut, though.

When she was 15, her mother died of cancer.

Three years later, her father was struck and killed by a car as he tried to cross a city street to board a trolley.

Despite the occasional hardships, Callija's speech was sprinkled with laughter as she reminisced about her life.

She seems to think, though, that people in general aren't as friendly today.

"Neighbors used to be like family," she said. "They seemed to care more. If someone was sick, we'd all help out."

One of the most important things she has learned was not to try and change the way people think.

"And you don't try to change my mind," she said. "If the whole world felt that way it would be a better place to live."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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