Patrick's Month

I didn't post anything on March 17th--St. Patrick's Day--since it's also our wedding anniversary (#17 this year. And they said it would never last!) We chose the date since we felt it would be a hard date to forget, considering we live close to Boston and a bazillion other Micks. But, you know, it's March, and the entire month belongs to Patrick.

Three sets of greatgrandparents and one grandma came from the Old Sod. Nana(Peg Delaney) Holland came from Williamstown, a little village in east Galway. She left when she was 16 and never looked back. She and her sisters worked in the Manchester, NH mills for a while, then Catsy (Catherine) went to work in a local church rectory, cooking for the priests. Nana and sisters Della and Helen opened a little bakery in Brighton, MA. and worked there until marriage claimed all three of them. Della and her husband Walter Lang continued to operate the bakery until they retired. I used to love to listen to the three of them talk in their soft brogue. My father used to call them his "red, white, and blue girls"--Nana had white hair, Della had red, and Catsy had the lovely blue. By this time, Helen was married and living in Brighton and we didn't see her as often in Watertown. A fifth sister, Annie, had come to the States but had returned to Ireland to care for a bachelor brother. She eventually married and raised a family there.

About ten years ago my husband gave me a trip to Ireland for a birthday gift. I was very excited that I was actually going to see the country my family left so long ago.
I remembered listening to one of my Dad's cousins talk about visiting Williamstown in the past and wondered if one of his daughters would know anything about anyone still living there. She gave me names and addresses and I sent off letters to absolute strangers, not knowing if they were dead or alive. I made arrangements for them to contact me once I was in Ireland. Messages were waiting for me when we arrived.

We met my cousins Peter and Joe Maloney (Annie's boys) and their families. Peter still lived on the farm where Nana was born and brought up and Joe was a retired Guard (policeman) in Co. Clare. Jack and I were told we would be going out to the farm (Brierfort) and spending the night there with Peter and his wife Mae. We all had such a marvelous time--it was as if we had known each other all our lives. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Ireland is simply gorgeous--it's as green as they say and quite mountainous. The people we met were friendly to a fault and we have nothing but wonderful memories. Peter has since passed away, but I learned last week that Joe and his wife Mary are coming for a visit at the end of April. I can't wait to show them the same hospitality they gave to us.

The photos are of my cousin Joe Maloney, his wife Mary, and three of their five kids. The next is a photo of the farm Nana grew up on. The cattle belong to cousin Peter. The lane (and most of the roads in Ireland) is very narrow. Jack and I went out for a walk after supper and literally had to climb up into the hedgerows when a wee little subcompact came by so that we wouldn't be hit! The third photo is of a roadsign in English and Gaelic. and the last is of the cemetary where my forebears are buried. Cemetary's don't provide "perpetual care" in Ireland, so most of the old gravesites were all grown over with tall grass and the stones leaned to one side.

Big Brother

This week, on March 12, was my big brother's 67th (gasp!) birthday. It's hard to believe we are both so old now. Wasn't it only yesterday that he was giving me a ride on his bicycle handlebars? Wasn't only last week he was tormenting me as only a big brother can? In all the ensuing time he did a 4 year hitch in the Navy, got married, worked his way up to an executive job at AT&T Long Lines, lived for many years in New Jersey & Connecticut in beautiful homes, and brought up his brood of three wonderful kids. When he was 16 he desperately wanted a motorcycle. Naturally my parents told him that when he could afford to buy one, he could have one. (My mother was horrified at the idea of her first born becoming road pizza) Two years ago, he finally got himself a shiny, bright red motorcycle that he takes up and down the Connecticut coast. Leo said the day he bought it he could swear he heard strange noises and rumblings coming Mt. Auburn Cemetery where my parents are buried . :-)

Nowadays Leo is retired and living in Old Lyme, Ct. in a rambling old Dutch colonial. He had lived there only a couple of months when he came down with his first case of Lyme disease. Nothing quite like having first hand knowledge of the reason your town is famous. I spent a couple of days there with Leo this week, yakking for hours about family, friends, and assorted old memories. What a wonderful time I had!

Our brothers and sisters are precious and rare people. Always keep them close, for when our parents are gone forever, they will be the ones who share our childhood memories.

Happy birthday, much older brother! Here's to 40 more years--love you!

Quiet Weekend at Home

Well, it's Sunday night, and I'm on duty tonight. Let's see--Sunday night is Pharmacy order night. Another night in Paradise, I can tell.

Didn't do too much this weekend. Slept until 10:30 on Saturday, showered and went down to Trader Joe's to do a little shopping. Got a few DVD's on the way home (Jack was down in Boston until 11 pm) and watched Queen Elizabeth I with Helen Mirren. She also gave a great acting performance as Queen Elizabeth II, so I was looking forward to seeing QEI. I've done a fair amount of reading about the Tudor dynasty: Henry VII, Henry VIII ("I'm 'enery the eighth I am, 'enery the eighth I am, I am. I been married to the widow next door, she's been married seven times before. And every one was an 'enery, 'enery. . . " I'm sorry--I digress. ) Bloody Mary I, and Elizabeth I. They were a very interesting family who lived during a time period that straddled the medieval world and the coming of modern times. The first one was a tightwad of the first water, the second a megalomaniac with an eating disorder, Mary was a religious fanatic who delighted in burning those who disagreed with her, and Elizabeth...well, she just didn't want to share the power, so she didn't get married. More power to her.

I just watched "The New World" with Colin Farrell. Spare yourself. It was so long that if I'd watched it to its end, I'd have died of old age. Jack and I went out for lunch today and then took a nice walk down both sides of Main St. in Nashua, looking in the shop windows, poking around in the Russian grocery store. Jack and the store clerk had to resort to sign language since the lady only spoke Russian. Talk about entertaining--Jack ended up with 2 slices of Russian cheese instead of the half pound of Russian ham he first asked for. He finally did get the ham--in one solid piece. I love going into that store...they have the greatest selection of strange food that you will ever see. However their chocolate, their candies, and the baked goods at Christmas are out of this world. And--they are inexpensive!

Well, it's 9:06 pm and time to get rolling. Still have to shower, get dressed, do the hair, and pack up. Sigh. I'd rather be going to bed. Someday.

I Remember Mama

The photos are of my parents while on their trip of a lifetime to Hawaii and at home on their 25th wedding anniversary. They look so young. The old picture was taken in 1927. Mama is the little girl in the front row.

Today is the 20th anniversary of my mother's death. She ws only 69 when she died, just 10 years older than I am now. Ruth Doris McLaughlin was born in Everett, MA in 1918 and was brought up in Watertown along with her 5 living brothers and sisters. She had had 2 other sisters, but one died in infancy and the other at the age of 3, just before my mother was born. She did well in school but did not receive any college or technical training after she graduated from high school in 1936. Mama had been athletic and a tennis champion in high school and one of her coaches wanted her to enter training for the Olympics. My grandmother forbad her from doing it, saying she did not want a "muscular daughter." Mama worked as a clerk and a bookkeeper before she married my father, Leo Holland, in 1938. Dad lived right across the street from my mother and he used to watch her coming and going on her dates, which ticked him off to no end. In March, 1940 my brother Leo Jr. was born and my father shipped out with the submarine service a couple of years later during WWII. My mother said that was a hard time for her.

Dad returned safe and sound from the Pacific in 1945. No time was wasted because I was born in 1947, an official, cutting edge baby boomer. When I was 5, my father developed a severe case of osteoporosis. His bones began to break and he spent months at time in the VA hospital in Jamaica Plain while they treated his fractures and tried to figure out the cause . I remember riding the bus from Watertown to Jamaica Plain with my mother a couple of times every week when she went to visit him. She didn't drive (we didn't own a car until I was 12), so the MTA was the only way to get around. We moved to a brand new housing project in East Watertown in 1953 and lived there until I was 13. My Dad began to drink heavily during the '50's. Life was not easy, but my aunts, uncles, and both sets of grandparents were close by and I always felt secure and loved. Despite all the problems that beset them, my parents stayed together. My brother and I are ever grateful for that. Mama worked outside the home all throughout my childhood, at a time when women were expected to stay home and care for their families. I think that was a good thing--she needed a diversion from her problems, a stimulus for her excellent mind, and money for the family. She set me a great example of industriousness and hard work, and went through it all with a wonderful sense of humor.

By 1968 my brother and I were settled and in our own homes and the grandchildren began to arrive. Mama adored them all, even when they drove her around the bend. Life got better for my parents and they lived a quiet life. looking forward to their annual two- week vacation on Cape Cod. In 1984 my mother suffered a ruptured cerebral aneurysm which ended her life as she knew it. After months in a hospital and rehab, and two neurosurgeries, she finally ended up at Fairview Nursing Home in Hudson, NH. My father retired, sold his business, and moved to NH to be near his wife. Dad would go to Fairview each day just after breakfast, and stay with her until she was ready to go to bed for the night. Mama was alert, but had almost a total personality change. Instead of being edgy and bright, she became sweet, happy, and docile. Two years later she was diagnosed with lung cancer and died in her sleep a few months after the diagnosis. An easy ending for such a dread disease.

I still miss her very much. I miss the Saturday morning gossip sessions on the phone, her arrival at the bus station in Nashua when she came for a visit with us, her counsel, her big smile, her complaints about her nose and her feet, and being the only one at the dinner table who didn't have brown eyes. I miss her fire engine red toenails, the blue rinse in her hair, and the way her green eyes crinkled up and disappeared when she laughed. I miss her love for my children, her talk about her job and the folks in Harvard Square, her pride in my brother and his family, and
her devotion and utter, unending love for my father.

I love you Mama. Sweet dreams.

Sweet Money?

Two things today: renew a certificate of deposit and find something to satisfy my sweet tooth that won't pack on pounds. Well, called Sovereign Bank to find out their rates first, since they hold this CD and got a great rate of 5.21% with an annual rate of 5.35% in a 9 month index fund. Not half bad--sign me up!

I have to eat a high protein diet because of some surgery I had last year, but occasionally I still get a case of the "hungry horrors" when I crave carbohydrates. Usually I satisfy it witha handful of Reduced Fat Wheat Thins, but sometimes I want somthin' sweet and soft that just slides down--like ice cream. Unfortunately ice cream makes me as sick as a dog. I've learned that baked custard does the trick. I use 3 whole eggs, 2 cups of 1% milk, 1/3 cup of Splenda sugar substitute, a tsp of good vanilla, some nice nutmeg, and whatever spice in the cabinet piques my interest that day. Today it was CARDOMOM. Yummy! The calorie count works out to be something like 85 guilt-free calories a serving.

We're meeting with our tax lady, Mary Poston, at HR Block at Exit 6 in Nashua at 4 pm. I had a little part time job there a number of years ago and got to know all the tax preparers. Mary is one the best they have. She's been doing our taxes for years now and I dread the day I call there and some voice tells me she's retired.

I'm also back to work tonight for the next three nights, but I do have the weekend off to recuperate.

Humor for today: Redneck Special Forces!

Subject: EYE RACK.. problem solved!!

The Pentagon announced TODAY the formation of a new 500-man elite
fighting unit called the United States Redneck Special Forces (USRSF)

These Texas boys will be dropped off into Iraq and have been given
only the following facts about terrorists :

1. The season opened today. 2. There is no limit. 3. They taste just
like chicken fried steak. 4. They don't like beer, pickups, country
music or Jesus. 5. They are directly responsible for the death of
Dale Earnhardt.

The Pentagon expects the problem in Iraq to be over by Friday.

Well, it appears the only way I can display photos of my favorites, be it people, places, or other stuff, is to post them in a blog fashion. Adding a page element on the sidebar doesn't work. Boo, hiss!!! The four photos are top, my son Christopher Roy, daughter Alexandra, his son Brandon, son Colin, and Ali again, this time with her mother, Anne.

It's An Ill Wind That Blows No Good. . .

When I took Anna home Friday, her mother and I got on the subject of Chinese food. I thought Jack might like some chow fun for supper, so decided to stop at the Joyce Chen Chinese grocery in Amherst, NH on the way home to pick up some fresh rice noodles if they were available.

Not only were they not available, the entire damn store was gone! I haven't cooked Chinese food for over a year so they must have closed sometime recently. What a disappointment. While I was bemoaning the loss of fresh rilce noodles, I noticed a new consignment store in the same little strip mall--quelle joy!! It was 4:30 and the place closed at 5 pm, but I can cover a lot of ground in 30 minutes as can any female shopper worth her Visa card. Omigod, this place is heaven! Such gorgeous jewelry and inexpensive to boot. I immediately spotted a small two shelf bookcase I desperately needed AND I came across one of the nicest Canadian rockers I've seen. The chair was $168. and is currently selling at Babies R Us for $449. Needless to say I bought both items! Jack didn't get any chow fun, but I got a "new" glider and bookcase for our bedroom. I think I got the better part of the deal.

I need to go get some sleep so I'll have the strength to clean this pig sty tomorrow. Got to put the plow attachment on the vacuum cleaner. . . My big ol' Maine Coon, Jake, is keeping the bed warm for me!

March is Patrick's month for all of us Micks. Time to break out all my green "stuff" and my Irish jokes.

Six retired Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's apartment
when Paddy Murphy loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his
chest, and drops dead at the table.

Showing their respect for a fallen brother the other five continued
to play, standing, until Michael O'Connor looked around and says
"OK me lads, someone has to tell Paddy's widow. Who will it be?"

They drew straws and Liam Gallagher picked the short one.

They tell him to be discreet, be gentle, don't make a bad situation
any worse.

"Discreet? I'm the most discreet Irishman you'll ever meet.
Discretion is me middle name. Aye, leave it to me".

Gallagher goes over to Murphy's house and knocks on the door.

Mrs. Murphy answers and asks what he wants.

Gallagher declares "Your husband has just lost $500 and is afraid
to come home."

"Tell him to drop dead!" says Murphy's wife.

"I'll go tell him." says Gallagher.

G'night all!

Another day in the Big City

On the spur of the moment, Anna and I decided to go to the JFK Library in Boston yesterday. Once again we hopped on the Boston Express and hopped off at South Station. This time we took the Red Line to JFK/UMass stop at Columbia Point where we got on a shuttle for the University and the Library. The Library is a striking piece of architecture right on the water, with great views in all directions. Once inside you travel through exhibits and films that depict Jack Kennedy's life and his short time in office. It brought back such memories. I was 16 when JFK was assassinated and I remember sitting with my Dad the day he was buried, watching the entire ceremony from beginning to end on our black and white TV. It was such a sad, sad day--it was all I could do to keep from crying and I could tell my father was having a tough time too. (We Hollands are strong and stoic, and we do not cry at funerals, sad movies, or other events where more normal people cry their eyes out. It's not easy, but that's the way it is.)

And Jackie--what a class act that woman was! Jack Kennedy certainly did not deserve her. There was an entire exhibit devoted to her, the things she did to preserve the White House, and the grace she brought to the role of First Lady. Who can forget Jack Kennedy's speech in France where he introduced himself as "the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris."

Anna and I took a long walk along the waterfront after we left the Library. There is a paved and landscaped walkway that seems to go on for miles along Dorchester Bay, so it was a delightful finish to a perfectly fine day.
I wouldn't have missed this week for the world.