Monday, June 20, 2005

Grandpa's Birds

I'd like to share a bit about my Grandpa on my father's side. He was a silent fellow seemingly happy to watch all the Grandkids without much ado. He lived to be about 81 or so we think as his true birth year was muddled as was his name we he came to this country. I am told that he had a fourth grade education but spent much of his life reading and learning through the years. Grandpa was born in Mayo Ireland and then moved to Roscommon Ireland. He knew my Grandmother there but met her again in NYC. Grandpa came to the U.S. sometime around 1915 with seventeen dollars in his pocket. He never talked about how he got here, it just was. The man had four red headed sons, one a priest, one a pipefitter, one a printer and one a businessman. Although he came to this country with nothing, he rose thru the ranks to become a Battalion Chief at a Firehouse in DC. Another thing he never talked about, ever. My Grandpa F. knew how to save money and so did Grandma F. but they were always generous to us, grandkids. My father tells us that they were generous to everyone but themselves. My Grandpa used to look at the TV schedule on Sundays and draw birds in the margins, I think that is all I can recall him drawing. I bet when we left he did the crossword puzzle but he could do that when the noisy kids were around. Also, I sure don't recall that they even had a t.v. but my memory is fuzzy. So I am going to try and reproduce a Bird that he would draw in the margins. And then I am going to post a Bird that my dad drew a couple of weeks ago.

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