This would be grandpa and grandma in the mid-thirties. Note the movie poster behind them it is for a movie 'After the thin man' a classic movie from those days. I still watch it on occasion.
This would be me saintly mother with me father about 1942 or 43. Both I'm thinking made a fine looking couple. Me father ended up in Germany not long after this picture in old blood and guts Patton's army. The troops always said his guts and our blood. I cannot of course verify that because I was not yet born.
Mr mother, a bit of the Irish she was. But before I be telling you about her, I need to be telling you about her mother. Bridget McMann she was, fresh off the boat from the Emerald Isles. A grand woman she was, but only in her size. Me grandfather, God rest his saintly soul, married her a long time ago. Again I was not there to see that. She was prone to fighting with her neighbors. They had to move 22 times in 23 years. That is until they moved in with me mother and father just 6 months after me mum and dad were wed. Me grandmother despised me father she did. She would not even recognize me father in his own home. Me thinks me father earned his place in heaven by putting up with her until she died. Me grandfather stayed with me mother and father until he died many years later. Me grandmother suffered many strokes before passing away. I never knew her when she was able to do the walking and the talking. She just sat in her chair all the days long. She was on her deathbed more times than I could be knowing about. Every time that would be happening, the priest would come to the house and give her the last rites and every time she would pop up like a cork and be ready for some more living. The parish priest got tired of coming and on one snowy winter night refused to come over when me mother called, because it was snowing so badly. Me mother told the priest to be ready, because me father would be there to drive him over to the house. And God bless me father he went out in the harsh storm to get the priest. Well I’ll be telling you that grandma did not die that night either. So now I’m thinking you know enough about me grandmother. And die she did on a warm summer’s evening, around 19 and 57 with no one but me grandfather by her side. I do not know where me father and mother were, but if there had been a warning sign they would have been there. I was away staying with me aunt Maryanne.
Now I’ll be telling you about me mother. She had a bit of the Irish in her. She was a fine soul. She was always there for whomever needed her. And they were plentiful. Me mother had a job and was still at home when the World War 2 broke out. Her sister was married and me grandfather told her that she needed to quit her job to take care of her sister’s 2 children, so her sister could work for the government. Now I’ll be telling you I would not have had any of that, but me mum, kind hearted soul she was, she said okay. She raised those 2 girls and they loved her for it. They remained true, until, well that’s a whole different story, so I’ll not mention it. Me mother was such a kind soul. She always told me how smart I was and I believed her, until I got out into the world and found out I wasn’t smart at all compared to the rest of the world. That is neither here nor there, but she gave me confidence and what more could a young boy ask for in this world? The Irish came out when someone pushed her dear soul to the breaking point. Then, she put their name in her book. I was there once, for something I had no control over. Lucky for me, she did not draw a line through me name. If that happened, anyone whose name was crossed through was dead to her. Me mother, when asked who was her favorite child, responded with, who ever needs me at the moment.
Oddly me wife Joyce, mother of me child, though German, is the same way. She can be pushed to her limit and cross that line with anyone in her family and well I am sure you have heard about the German Blitzkrieg and that’s what comes out. A grizzly bear has nothing on Joyce when it comes to ferocity.
Now I’ll be telling you about me mother. She had a bit of the Irish in her. She was a fine soul. She was always there for whomever needed her. And they were plentiful. Me mother had a job and was still at home when the World War 2 broke out. Her sister was married and me grandfather told her that she needed to quit her job to take care of her sister’s 2 children, so her sister could work for the government. Now I’ll be telling you I would not have had any of that, but me mum, kind hearted soul she was, she said okay. She raised those 2 girls and they loved her for it. They remained true, until, well that’s a whole different story, so I’ll not mention it. Me mother was such a kind soul. She always told me how smart I was and I believed her, until I got out into the world and found out I wasn’t smart at all compared to the rest of the world. That is neither here nor there, but she gave me confidence and what more could a young boy ask for in this world? The Irish came out when someone pushed her dear soul to the breaking point. Then, she put their name in her book. I was there once, for something I had no control over. Lucky for me, she did not draw a line through me name. If that happened, anyone whose name was crossed through was dead to her. Me mother, when asked who was her favorite child, responded with, who ever needs me at the moment.
Oddly me wife Joyce, mother of me child, though German, is the same way. She can be pushed to her limit and cross that line with anyone in her family and well I am sure you have heard about the German Blitzkrieg and that’s what comes out. A grizzly bear has nothing on Joyce when it comes to ferocity.
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