Deirdre McQuade is best known as the USCCB pro-life spokeswoman who tried to counter the false dichotomy between "pro-life" and "social justice.” She died from breast cancer on April 21, 2022.

Deirdre wrote on Caring Bridge, ”Another way God's loving me right now is through my friends, especially Colin and Drusilla....The ever-lovely and gifted Drusilla has been here since Memorial Day weekend, 2015, and now our buddy, Colin, has moved in. … They were the 1st ones I told about The Lump & have been w/me through this cancer journey in every way…." She added, "Really don't know where I'd be without 'em." Colin and Drusilla cared for her throughout her three-year illness.

Colin is an artist who has also written movingly about his Catholic faith and his recovery from alcoholism. (https://aleteia.org/2014/04/21/holiness-in-place-the-counterculture-of-stability/ and https://wau.org/archives/article/thirsty_for_grace/.) He has ongoing health problems that have been exacerbated by losing his best friend and the stress of needing to figure out how to move without the necessary resources.

Drusilla, a longtime best friend of Colin's, has several autoimmune illnesses and is disabled. She has been working on building a wardrobe and style consultant business that will allow her to stay within the limits that illness has placed upon her. She is a remarkable, inspired seamstress who designs, redesigns, and restores vintage vestments and women’s clothes. She's also a survivor of trauma and has written about it in hope of helping others.

In her essay "Hell Doesn't Own Me," Drusilla wrote: "Our Lady prepared Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta for a mission to sinners. I have been prepared for a mission too: I know the way out of hell and it is my job to tell others how to reach safety." (http://heirsinhope.blogspot.com/2011/07/experiment-7-hell-doesnt-own-me.html)

Deirdre wanted to provide for them but her estate has not resolved as hoped. Monopoly House (named for it’s resemblance to a Monopoly game piece) is being sold. Colin and Drusilla must move out by the end of July 2023, much earlier than they hoped or expected. They can't afford to buy the house and they are without the resources they need to rebuild their lives.

In 2008, providence brought Colin and Deirdre together. They were both living in New York City, where they worked together at the same law firm. He introduced Deirdre and Drusilla; they became friends during the weekend visits Deirdre made to New York to see Colin. In fact, Drusilla graciously hosted Deirdre as an overnight guest at her apartment during those visits. In autumn of 2010, Colin moved to Hyattsville to be near Deirdre so that they could better discern whether their relationship was heading toward marriage. Ultimately they realized that, though they were not heading toward marriage, they had a deep and priceless friendship.

In 2012, Deirdre had a stroke. Throughout Deirdre's lengthy recovery, Colin was at her side. In 2015, Drusilla finally accepted Deirdre’s invitation to relocate from Houston to Hyattsville and be her housemate even though she had to give up most of her own furnishings because Deirdre’s space was already furnished.

Three years later, having saved up some money, Deirdre left the USCCB to follow her dream of becoming a professional photographer (https://facebook.com/dmcquadestudios/). But Deirdre's business had barely gotten off the ground when, in January 2019, a lump in her breast proved cancerous. In late May 2019, Monopoly House's population increased to three as Colin gave up his own apartment and many of the furnishings he’d acquired over the years of living alone in order to move in to help care for Deirdre.

Colin and Drusilla are turning to you, Deirdre’s friends and their friends, for help in collecting the funds they will need to begin rebuilding their lives. They are hoping to raise $50,000 which they will share. Your generosity will help them be able to:

1) Pay moving expenses including deposits, etc. (Drusilla - $8000; Colin - $)
2) Pay down debt incurred while devoting their resources to help Deirdre (Drusilla - $2000; Colin $)
3) Replace furnishings (about $4000 each)
4) Cover unexpected medical expenses (Drusilla - $5000; Colin $)
5) (Drusilla) have a cushion as she settles in LA (about $6000)
6) (Colin) Have the resources to care for Deirdre’s aging dog, Matty. ()

Friendship was one of Deirdre’s gifts. She wanted to be friends with everyone from the developmentally disabled woman down the street with whom she shared peanut butter sandwiches in her kitchen, to a homeless couple whom she and Colin befriended and visited regularly, to Drusilla herself.

When treatment left Deirdre intensely fatigued and adversely affected much of her vision, she was unable to continue her work as a photographer. Friends she had known from her days at Bryn Mawr generously put together a Go Fund Me campaign to help her. She used the money raised to pay down debt and cover her travel expenses to visit friends including a trip to Notre Dame to spend time with friends from her graduate school days.

During that time and until the end of her life, Colin and Drusilla made certain she had proper meals, the personal items she needed, and their help to continue doing the things she loved. Deirdre realized, far better than they, that they had devoted not only their time but also their funds even though doing so seriously impacted their finances as well as their personal and professional futures. Colin and Drusilla were keenly aware that accompanying Deirdre was fraut. When they wondered what would become of them, they recalled Peter’s response when Jesus asked if they too wanted to leave him. “To whom would we go?” They believe God brought the three of them together for this particular purpose. Before she died, Drusilla thanked Colin and Drusilla for their care and for the sacrifices they made for her.
Our hope is that the many friends who loved Deirdre will consider this a last opportunity to make a gift to her by helping the two people who faithfully loved and helped her through the last years of her life. Colin and Drusilla are beyond grateful for any gift you give.

Your generosity will help them carry the spirit of Monopoly House and friendship with them.

Please contribute as you are led and then share this fundraiser with those whom you think would also like to participate in this work of mercy. And please keep Colin and Drusilla in your prayers as they transition from Monopoly House. We join Colin and Drusilla in gratitude for your generosity.

Dawn Eden Goldstein, JCL, STD
Brian Lohman
Michael J. New, PhD
Andreas and Michelle Widmer