Kathleen Fogarty, of Coventry, with some of her 11 children, is carrying on since the death of her husband last April.

The Providence Journal / Steve Szydlowski

COVENTRY — Piles of wrinkled laundry and bags stuffed with donated presents compete for space in Kathleen Fogarty’s living room.

The gifts that Kathleen picked up from Coventry High School are not quite under the tree, but at least there are gifts.

Looking around, Kathleen, a single mom with 11 children — eight of whom are adopted — reflects upon the last seven months since her husband’s death.

She thinks about all the little adjustments that she and the children have had to make.

“You really don’t want to celebrate [Christmas] because he’s not here,” she said. “We all lost the same person, but he touched us all differently. My New Year’s resolution is to get through the holidays and give my kids some kind of normalcy.”

Joseph Fogarty, 46, died in April when his pickup truck collided with a tractor-trailer. Joseph had happily worked several jobs to support his brood and allow Kathleen to stay at home with the kids.

The Fogartys still live in the seven-bedroom home on Crestwood Road, the couple’s first home that has a big yard, a pool and a $1,300-a-month mortgage.

So far, with the help of donations from everywhere and everyone, it seems, Kathleen has been able to keep the home.

In the past, Kathleen often took a gift request off a Christmas tree in a bank or a grocery store to help a less-fortunate family.

This holiday season, the Fogartys was the family with the tree-gift requests. There were many things needed for the younger ones: Sam, Jonathan, Sara, James, Vincent, Arianna, Tabitha and Krista. Tara, Josh and Kayla are adults. But people came through to donate gifts.

“Emotionally my kids are in crisis,” Kathleen said. “They are angry. In a lot of ways, a lot of them have lost a set of parents already. They need a strong male role model … especially my teenage boys.”

There are positives. James, 17, received high honors on a recent report card. He also did all the outdoor Christmas decorations, including two rows of candy-cane lights along the front walk.

Joseph always made the mashed potatoes, but James tried his hand at making them one night and they were good, Kathleen said.

“I don’t cook. My kids haven’t had mashed potatoes in seven months,” she said. “Maybe we are going to survive this.”

— Journal Staff Writer Lisa Vernon-Sparks

lsparks@projo.com