“The tulips in the garden
Are wearing yellow hats;
The pussy willows by the brook
Have fur like any cat’s.
The bee is honey hunting;
The robin’s chirp is gay,
And all the world is singing
‘Oh, Happy Easter Day!’”
Anon
I remember when the kids were little how difficult it was for the Easter Bunny to find an unusual place to hide our kids’ Easter Baskets. One year we found them in the bathtub with the shower curtain almost closed. Somewhere in our house there is a photo of daughter Jeanne, probably at age three, sitting on our bed, next to her half-asleep Daddy, with more chocolate around her mouth than inside it. We have photos of the kids all dressed up for church and then over to their Grandma’s in Jamaica Plain for Easter dinner.
Instead of Easter Baskets from the Easter Bunny, the kids and grandkids now get bags of candy from Hubby and me. Six get a milk chocolate bunny in their bags. Paul likes dark chocolate and Jeanne likes white chocolate. Paul likes Tootsie Rolls; Sue, little Cadbury Eggs; and Jeanne, Milk Duds. Hubby and Sue always get some black jelly beans. All get Hershey Eggs. I think the World’s Greatest Grandchildren, Brendan and Erin, like all their candy. I haven’t heard any complaints.
Where else would Hubby and I be on St. Patrick’s Day but heading toward Gerard’s Restaurant for lunch. The parking lot was quite full so we figured that the restaurant would have a great many customers. As we walked into the store area, Margaret Lydon wished us a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We entered the restaurant area and saw that daughter Sue and our friend Eileen Burke were saving a table for us. Our friends and former neighbors Greg and Sarah Ashe came in and took the next table to us. They were joined by their daughter Karen and her husband Kevin Doherty. They weren’t there just to have Gerard’s corned beef dinner. They were there to hear and see Kevin and Karen’s son Kevin, age 14, play the fiddle for the restaurant patrons. Gerard had asked Kevin to play during the breakfast hours, the lunch hours, and the dinner hours on St. Patrick’s Day.
Within a few minutes, our friend Loretta Philbrick came in and took a seat at the table to the side of ours so we had a chance to chat with her. She was soon joined by her friends Ginny Biagiotti and Maryann O’Brien. The staff from WROL Radio had already set up their equipment in an area near the front door. They would be doing live remotes from the restaurant back to the station in Marina Bay. Jamie Ryan, the daughter of the station’s General Manager Pat Ryan, was going around to all the tables, giving out Irish trinkets.
Eileen and I received green bracelets. I think Sue got a green necklace. Last year, WROL gave out little rubber ducks with a shamrock on their chest, and wearing a green bowler hat. Our duck is still on display on a shelf in our upstairs bathroom. If I ever have time to take a leisurely bath, the duck will come in the tub with me. Even though she wasn’t our waitress on St. Patrick’s Day, Theresa Beswick came over to wish all of us a Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Jim Hunt Jr., our friend and neighbor, was there with several of his friends from work and came over to chat with us.
Out came the food. Hubby and Eileen had the traditional corned beef dinner and enjoyed every bit of the dinner. Sue and I ordered off the menu. Paul Dunphy and his wife were there, enjoying the corned beef. Paul is the brother of Ellen Mooney, our friend and former neighbor from Salina Rd. (She was also a crossing guard.) Both Ellen and her husband love living on the Cape now that both are retired. We even saw Ann Foley and her nephews Dan and Chris Grant enjoying their St. Patrick’s Day dinners. It was so busy that Gerard himself was clearing off the tables for the next customers.
We didn’t stop after eating at Gerard’s. I had seen that College Hype was giving a discount of 17% on all orders. We walked over to College Hype and started looking at all the t-shirts and sweat shirts. Of course, my eyes were drawn to the Irish ones. Pal Eileen was also looking at the Irish ones. We both bought a couple of shirts. My total was so low that I thought the terrific clerk, Bridie Doherty, had cheated herself. She said, “That includes the 17% discount.” I had forgotten the discount.
While we were looking around the store, daughter Sue said to me, “There’s ‘Candy’s’ owner. I think something must have happened to her. We haven’t seen her.” I told Sue that I would find out. If you don’t know Candy by name, you certainly know the dog if you visit Adams Village at all. She is the big, big Newfoundland dog that sits with her owner on the bench outside Gerard’s Restaurant. She will give you her big paw if you ask for it. She also hopes that you will share some of your leftovers from Gerard’s. The owner told me that the previous evening was the first time that he had brought Candy to Adams Corner since the winter. It was so good to hear that Candy is fine. The following evening, Hubby and I were with Sr. Elizabeth from the Notre Dame Montessori School. We asked Sister if she had had her corned beef dinner. She told us that Gerard’s dinner was wonderful and then she said, “I was so happy to see that ‘Candy’ was back with her owner outside Gerard’s”. We told Sister Elizabeth how much Sue loves the dog, too. Candy is quite a draw. She is a sweet dog.
Before we left College Hype, the store’s owner Jack Doherty came in. Recently Jack told me that he had met our son-in-law David at a golf tournament. Jack was at Westfield State College the same time as David and they were friends. Jack not only gave me a t-shirt for David, he also gave me the same t-shirt for our daughter Jeanne, “his” and “hers.” The shirts had a big “M.P.I., MOVE PAST IT, “printed on it. I told Jack we would bring the t-shirts with us when we went to Rockport on Easter. We finally ended our St. Patrick’s Day celebration. It was a long but very pleasant afternoon and the weather was gorgeous.
Thanks to a call from Jane Matheson, I learned that Patricia “Pat” Egan had passed away on Mar. 19, St. Joseph’s Day. I first met Pat through her sister, Nancy (McDonough) Feeney, who was Hubby’s and my classmate at State Teachers’ College at Boston. Pat was active in the Freeport-Adams Association, a neighboring civic group to our Pope’s Hill Association. I knew that Pat had been the President of the Fields Corner Community Development Corporation. She also was a founding member of the Determined People of Dorchester, through whose efforts the Dorchester Neighborhood Health Center was built. I would often see Pat and Nancy at various Dorchester functions. Pat was the wife of the late Joseph. I send my sympathy to their children: Jacqueline Sullivan, Justine Wedge, Patricia Toppa, Eileen Ellard, Laura, Brian, and Michael. She was also the mother of the late Joseph and Sharon. She is survived by her sister Veronica Coleman.
I was also sorry to hear of the death of Jacqueline “Jackie” Tierney in Goldsboro, NC, on Mar. 20. I met Jackie because of all the wonderful work she did for the Lower Mills Civic Association. She was also very active in St. Gregory’s Parish. Even though she moved to North Carolina, she would call me at least once a year to renew her Dorchester Reporter subscription. We would then chat about Dorchester. Jackie was the wife of the late Paul Tierney. She was the sister of Frances Walker and the mother of Richard, Kathleen Bryan, Madalyn Lambert, Shawn, and Kimberly Connor. She was also the mother of the late Paul, Grant, Gerard, and Kevin.
Another of our long-time residents of Neponset passed away on Mar. 24. Carmela “Minnie”(Cannone) Morgan, a resident of the Bostonian Nursing Care Center, had been very active in St. Ann’s Parish, serving as treasurer of the Women’s Guild. She was also a member of the K Club, Senior Citizens of Neponset. I send my sympathy to her nieces Ann Mazzone and Carmela Brillo and to her nephew John Puleo. She was a very nice lady, well-liked by everyone.
Hubby and I were very lucky during the torrential rainstorm two weeks ago. We just lost our home phone for a few days. In the front part of the cellar, we had a little darkening of the dirt on the cement floor but that was all. Hubby put on the dehumidifier, which we sometimes use in the humid summer, but only had a tiny bit of water in the machine during one whole day of operation. Outside our home, we have a metal barrel with straight sides. The bottom of the barrel is intact so it catches and keeps all the rain water that falls. After that horrendous storm, Hubby took out a ruler to the barrel. The water measured exactly 11 inches! That had to have been the total rainfall in our section of Neponset.
I think this thought by Virgil A. Kraft is so true: “Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.” Enjoy Easter with your families.
