Take Care of the kids

 




Take Care of the kids


     One of the few sad experiences I had with John Sheehy was in his last days at the hospital (I think Downey) where he spent a short time as lung cancer took over and ended his life. He was going in and out of clear consciousness but was able to give some good advice on his way out. I always thought of him as larger than life and when he spoke I listened because most of the time his opinions were gold. And he had lots of opinions, mostly positive and generous but some in the form of threatening curses for the villains we see every day in our lives. This all came as a terrible shock to most of us because it had only been a week since he was diagnosed.  It was assumed he would be undergoing treatments. However the cancer was extremely aggressive and his lifetime of using tobacco had left his lungs in bad shape. He spotted a pack of cigarettes in my pocket and pointed his pin-setter's finger at me and told me "those things will kill you!" He knew whereof he spoke being three days from leaving us. I had rehearsed a speech telling him how much he meant to me and how greatly I appreciated his wisdom. I was forty-five years old and had been learning from him for most of those years. It was from John I learned to love story-telling and once or twice when my relationship with my own father was on bumpy roads the man took me into his home. Yet, as I stood at the foot of the bed I just could not choke out the words of gratitude and just stared with my eyes full of tears. True to his good heart and acknowledging his end was close he cleared his throat and said his last words to me "take care of the kids." 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paul Knowlton's White Lotus

Image
 Paul Knowlton's White Lotus \      It is ironic that this post is titled something that means nothing to the protagonist. Paul, Zeke, "the Prince," "Senor Suerte" or the Snail (I never called him that.) My old pal just created a memorable vacation on the island of Oahu where the mean old world was a far off nightmare and the closest thing to stress was choosing which kind of massage you would request. Paul was the second friend in my life and we grew up about a block away from each other. We were Catholic boys and loved sports that created a bond lasting seventy years. This connection continued from grammar school to High School, to Community College to University. We were roomates from 1968 to 1972 and our families had a solid respect for one another. Paul grew up in a family of nine kids at a tract house in South Gate when the common man lived the American dream. Then again with 11 mouths to feed the American dream can only stretch so far. It is a cliche but ...
Read more

alright mother

Image
  alright mother- “You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” —Carol Ann Duffy  Greg was always delighted by a story told by his mother in law about a "sortie" dinner party attended by a Doctor "Putty" Putnam who had been forced to attend an opera by his wife. When asked by a clueless guest if he enjoyed the opera, his response was  "fuck you!" When I was visiting Bear Cove and sitting next to the matriarch Greg goaded her into telling the tale. But a rum n' coke had loosened "Minnie's" tongue and when she got to Putty's answer she blurted a rather hard FUCK YOU!  Roy, hearing his bride curse thusly said across the table "Alright mother!"
Read more

Athletic Club Flower shop

Image
  Athletic Club Flower shop      This phrase is actually the telephone greeting at Greg's uncle Johnny Tassano's flower shop at 808 W. 8th street near Flower street in downtown L.A. Greg loved the place and culled many a story and line from his experiences at a place he worked and visited fondly. Even when he wasn't employed he drove around with cousin Kent (Kevin Smith) and they had a ball observing the absurdities of modern living in the Southland. The phone was answered by different employees and each had a unique turn of "Athletic Club...flowershopppp" There was owner John Tassano, right-hand man Ronald P. Lord, "Speed," a delivery man, and Carmen who cut flowers and told odd anecdotes such as the origin of pizza. I believe Greg and Kevin could go on for weeks about the people they met on their deliveries as they set forth across the city of the angels to spread floral joy. This might include places to eat, fascinating neighborhoods, cemeteries, lone...
Read more