1.Father's day
This story is always on the tip of my tongue when I'm asked about my dad growing up.
Before the sun came up, my dad got me out of bed at an unreasonable hour to take the bus ride into work with him. The walk from our estate on Sweetwater Avenue, to the bus stop was a short one. It was long enough however, for the freezing wind to burn the skin off my face. The bus stop was in front of the local hardware store (pic below). My best guess is that we were out there sometime around 5am. Mind you, this was well before my mom would have been awake to see that I was dressed appropriately for the arctic conditions, so I was likely wearing a short sleeve shirt and a Yankee hat. With the wind blowing, and the temperature falling, we waited on the express bus into the city. How was my dad doing this? He did this every day? How was it he hadn't frozen to death waiting for yesterday's bus? No sooner did these questions race through my mind, when I got a clue as to how he was able withstand these frigid conditions. My dad picked me up and took me over to the doorway of the hardware store. If you study the pic below, you will notice that the actual door to the store is set back a bit from the rest of the building. Dad set me down right in that nook. It provided me with enough shelter from the elements to watch him head back to the curb where he could keep watch for the bus. This must have been the spot he usually stood in. On this day, he gave up the cozy spot for me.
From this vantage point I saw a super hero of a man wait in the freezing cold for a bus ride to work. He did this......... every............ day. He did it for me. My dad knew when to shelter me, and when not to. After all, we were about to spend the day in the East Village. Muggings, drugs and rooms in the St. Mark's hotel that could be had in 15minute intervals were just a few things dad worked amidst every day. Years later, Kris would work the same streets as a member of S.N.E.U.(Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit).
2. Leprechauns!
Never a dull moment exists when the Irish side of the family gathers.
Add in a Quaker wedding, a mix of Giants and Eagles' fans, an open bar.....you know where this is going.
During one timely walk through the hotel lobby, I came across Uncle Steve (every old school Irish family has a Catholic priest, he's ours), riding a luggage cart while shouting "I haven't even had any wine yet!"
3. The backdrop for all of this was my cousin Christine's wedding. We were treated to elements of a Quaker wedding ceremony. This included a pause of about 20 minutes for what was described to us as a moment of meaningful worship. During this time, anyone who so desired stood up and shared whatever was weighing on their heart, in that moment. Very cool.
For a quick look back, here is a video Kris put together last year.
Father's Day 2008 from shamus smith on Vimeo.
2 comments:
First let me state he was dressed for the weather. Second it was a day that lives in Union history because of Shamus. As we entered the dispatch office that morning Sha stopped dead in his tracks looking at Bill Donnelly with mouth wide open. Bill stood 6'8" and tip the scale at about 300lbs.
with the shape of a Pear. We were in the office for 5min. or so with Sha never loseing sight of Bill. When we got my truck I was met by Pat our chief stewart. At which time Sha shouts out hey pop can we go back inside and see "Big Bird " again. That large Man would never lose his new nick name for the rest of his time in the Bell System.
So, what you're telling us is that Shamus had developed his gift for blurting out inappropriate comments very early in life!
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