HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY!

SUNNY WISHES EVERYONE A HAPPY ST PATRICKS DAY!

Irish Blessings

Happy Birthday wishes to Amy and Aiden!!  Paula is away at training this week so this picture is my way of including her in our Irish celebrations this week. 

Kathy, Paula and I drove to Reading PA to do some outlet shopping over the weekend.  Somewhere along the way, the highway lanes reduced from two to one so all the cars were lining themselves up in the open lane.  Well, I'm sure you know what happened next--some driver pulls right up to the end of the closing lane probably intending to squeeze in ahead of those he'd just passed.  A couple of cars ahead in the open lane, one van pulls over to "take his half out of the middle" which blocked the driver in the closed lane. 

This got us talking about different kinds of drivers: the van driver, the sneaking up to the front driver, and the drivers like me just slowly advancing.  Or, to use other labels:  the hero, the jerk and the schmuck.  I had recently read "Adult Truths" which includes a shout out to those who actively block drivers from sneaking ahead in line.  I agreed--those drivers (jerk) make me nuts. 

I had also recently read an entry in one of my favorite Gloucester blogs Life's a Typo  March 10 entry Action vs Reaction.  I thought this post made a very good point.  Those who correct others in the loudest or most obvious ways are doing so more to prove they are RIGHT than to correct a wrong.  This is a greater wrong than the original offense.  Think about it.  I'm sure I am guilty of the very same. 

Charlie Sheen comes to mind.  Need I say more?  Anyhow, I plan to employ a technique I use most often when faced with jerk drivers:  assume their need to get wherever they are going is more urgent than mine for a good reason. 

I believe that most people do the best they can do in the circumstances they are given.  People don't intentionally go out to be STUPID.  Charlie Sheen just popped into my mind again.......huh...go figure.

So this is my St. Patrick's Day resolution:  try to suppress my natural instinct to prove the world would be better off if it ran by my rules. 

Your Irish words for this post:

As sure as the shamrocks are growing

In the land which the Irish all love,

As sure as the lakes of Killarney

Reflect the blue heavens above-

As sure as the warmhearted Irish

All pay honor to Saint Patrick too.

I'm wishing you "top o' the morning"

And happiness, always, for you.

Luck of the Irish

I have some "new" old Irish ancestors for you!  These are the Gloucester Irish, so they are up Dad's line of ancestry.  You probably know that Capt John Bentley (your great great grandfather) drowned aboard the Schooner Paul Revere in 1882 while fishing the Grand Banks.  On board was his father in law Martin Costello. 

Martin's wife, Julie Costello, lived in Gloucester for several years after Martin's death but sometime around 1900 moved to Boston and died in 1901 at the age of 81.  It was reported she was living with her niece but I haven't yet untangled that particular spider web of in laws.  A while back, I told you that her death certificate indicated her parents were Thomas and Monica McDonough (nee Tierney). 

Recently I came across Monica Tierney McDonough's death certificate which you can see here

I was quite stunned to find her in Boston as I had no idea she had come to the United States.  This is your g-g-g-great grandmother--and her parents are Martin and Monica Tierney.  She was 85 when she died.

 Some further research uncovered a brother to Julia named James McDonough.  His death record is here

 
It's probably a little hard to see, but he was 66 and lived in Boston also.  He appears to have been married though I haven't yet found his family.  It's very intriguing to me that Julia's mother was right there in Boston.  I hope to learn more of that story!  I'll be needing to get McDonough and Tierney pins to add to my collection of Irish surname pins!

So here are a few words from a book of Irish Blessings that Kathy shared with me:

Like the warmth of the sun

And the light of the day

May the luck of the Irish

Shine bright on your way

Have a great week rich with new names!

Birthday wishes

Paula's "first" birthday 1964.  That was then......

......This is now (well, 2010 for her 50th)

And happy 3rd birthday Delaney!!  We love you!

Watch out Erie PA!

Tim is currently finishing "A" School in Yorktown VA. While in school each student gets his or her choice of their next duty stations from a list provided by the Coast Guard. If you are top in the class, you pick first, second picks next, and so on. Tim was hoping very much to stay in the northeast, so I figured there wouldn't be much competition for those spots. But he was working very hard to be high on the list. No need to leave it to chance, right?

As it turns out Tim's first choice was Erie PA. It is a "heavy weather" duty station on Lake Erie and he wanted that for a future job he is interested in within the Coast Guard. He was happy there is a college in Erie where Pam can finish her Master's Degree. AND, the best part, Amy is there! A good time for cousins to reconnect.

The day finally arrived when they would get assigned their new station. Tim ranked 7th in the class- good job Tim! No one ahead of him had picked Erie, so he got it! He was thrilled!

Congratulations to Tim for working so hard and getting what he wanted. Now he and Amy will be in the same city, on beautiful Lake Erie! Tim should be arriving in Erie in early April. Pam will join him in June. Our next generation will be starting out together.

Watch out Erie!

Where in the world.........

We went to see Amy this past weekend so that we could get a chance to see for ourselves how Erie treats a snowstorm.  We actually did not know there would be a storm while we were there but the weather gods decided to treat us.  The vineyards and the lake certainly brought back memories of those years in Silver Creek--along with the gusts of blowing and drifting snow.  Yikes!  It came down so fast and blew so hard I thought I might be in a good ole blizzard. 

Thankfully the storm descended just as we arrived back in Erie from a trip to Cleveland to go to the zoo.  Yes, the zoo in February.  Turned out to be a great day even if it was a little bit cold.  The Cleveland Zoo is very nice and I think we saw most of the animals--a surprising number were out for viewing despite the cold temperatures.  The lions even roared for us--pretty impressive.  I think it will be fun to go back to school tomorrow and tell anyone who asks that I went to the Cleveland Zoo over the weekend!  That will be an answer they won't be expecting.

Camels are animals I wouldn't have expected to see out in the cold weather.  Looks like they are asking each other what this guy thinks he is doing. 

This picture includes Henry Nevins, Mom's grandfather.  He is obviously in Colorado and it was 1916 when he visited.  I have NO idea why he'd go to Colorado at all.  The other pictures of this trip do not seem to indicate this was a family trip.  I'm more inclined to think he was visiting another relative, but I don't know who it might be.  He had a brother Frank who went west but most of the information I've found about him so far puts him in California.  Could still be Frank though I'm not sure.  I wish I knew why he went to Colorado.  I think it could be a big clue.

There may come a day when some future descendant looks at this picture of Jim with the camels and wonders what in the world he was doing in Cleveland in February 2011.  Both pictures are labeled but there's no backstory attached to the pictures.  It's these backstories that make my obsession with researching family history so fulfilling.  Just in case you were wondering.

Happy Valentine's Day

My memories of Valentine's Day mostly consist of the smell of that glue/paste stuff used in elementary classrooms; the distinct smell of construction paper (red, white and pink); and the sweet smell of those candy message hearts.  There were class lists, boxes of valentines to sort through so that your best friend got just the right Scooby Doo character.  There were stubby nosed scissors and paper doilies spread all over the table.  And if you were very lucky, you got to dip your hands in red paint to make your Mom her Valentine.

This Valentine's Day, I'll be sorting through papers all over the desk to make sure the IRS gets just the right numbers.  I'll use highlighters, paper clips, a calculator and a stapler.  There will be only the smell of hot coffee.  There's a special box of income tax papers not unlike those boxed Valentines you'd use in elementary school.  And if I'm very lucky, there will be some special numbers in the REFUND box.  Taxes can't be filed  until Valentine's Day this year due to new tax laws enacted very late. That's one way to make Monday special.

Some people complain that Valentine's Day is one of those Hallmark manufactured holidays when people need to "show" their love and make the day special.  It's going to be a special day this year, all right.  Other people complain that the whole income tax system in the United States is something like those childhood handmade valentines held together with old dry paste:  crumbly and stinky.  I don't really have a strong opinion about that one way or the other.  I'm just happy to have a sanctioned opportunity to say "I love you".