Tape title stories

 Sheehy...Puccaloist      One of the qualities that made Greg such a loveable guy was his lack of ego. Maybe lack is not the best word but his self-confidence did not require constant compliments for his talents. There were small things of which he was truly extraordinary but he never bragged on them or even developed them. He was a very good cartoonist yet only did a few when I spurred him on with some of mine. As written before he really had a superior command of the English language with a memory for dialogue that was uncanny. He could have been a good actor but was never willing to undergo the grueling process to become a thespian, even a high school cast member. His vocabulary was robust and he never used any word improperly but put little down on paper. There is one talent that he possessed that only a few friends,  his cousin and his family knew about. The man was an accomplished puccaloist! The call for professional puccaloists or puccaloists period has ...

 I put it right on the bag...       A bad memory Greg could never leave behind was when he tried out for the JV baseball team at South Gate Jr. High School. The Ram teams were coached by the somewhat legendary Cliff Ditto who was a coarse and blunt closeted gay man whose brain was 99% sports and 1% something else. Because of the great baseball development programs at the park he managed a city championship team in 1960 and thought he was Casey Stengel after that. Ditto went on to be a scout for the Padres, Expos and Angels who had the dumb luck of signing the great Tony Gwynn and Randy Johnson. He also managed for the Padres in the lower minors for seven years and was the brother in law of Duke Snider. The guy had a big rep and when Greg stood beside him for infield during early workouts Ditto pushed a little bunt out in front of home plate to see the catcher's reaction on such a play. Greg, having been an all-star at the position in SGJAA leagues bounced out to gra...

 I always feel grand after confession      I always felt it puzzling to realize the Sheehy household was of mixed religions. John was a pretty solid Catholic and Grace was raised by strong Christian parents who served in the Salvation Army. On any given Sunday the Sheehy kids would have had to choose between St. Emydius Parish and the First Methodist Church where the method was observed. The Church of Rome however had a stopgap in place that forbad any young Catholic from ever attending a Protestant service under pain of mortal sin.Thus when I spent the night with my dear Methodist grandma I could not accompany her to her church. I did however, get acquainted with the Methodist hymns and to this day love the great melodies of "How Great Thou Art," "Be Thou My Vision," "Amazing Grace," and my grandma's reedy warbling of "Bringing in the Sheaths" that was accomplished while keeping her dentures in place during the high notes. The Sheehy kids al...

 Buddy Gimme an OG      Not that it is anything to be proud of but we were all cigarette and  pot smokers for decades.      Somehow, Greg and I were able to throw off the chains of big tobacco around 1990 for good. It was not easy and I had tried a couple of times before in 1982 and after the library fire in April of 1986. My addiction covered over twenty-five years. Greg with the help of his bride reduced that figure by at least a half-decade.  I must admit we both really enjoyed this bad habit and explored the many creations of the ad-men who perpetuated the false narrative that smoking was somehow beneficial to those who were wrecking their lungs and other organs in the human body. Sav-On Drugs on  Tweedy was a perfect example of the siren song cigarettes sang to those addicted. As you walked in the store, on your right was a kid's dream: a candy counter where all the favorites like hershey bars, snickers, three muskateers, M&M's...

For Christ's sake!      It seems appropriate to talk about Greg the sports fan on this Opening Day of 2025 since this is the first one I have spent without him in the flesh since 1990. We started our tradition in that year of a dozen good freinds going out to the old ball game, sitting together, wolfing our dogs and sipping beers while having a great time. It has been an all-star event with the best of the best out at Dodger Stadium including Ed Carroll, Timo, Billy and Carolyn Hogan, Sheehys Greg, Ed and Lissy,  Creasons: Stephen, Christine, Paul, Sarah, Julia, Katya, Nick, Mike Sheehy, Richard Sheehy, Niall , Nancy, Walt, Steve and Stephanie McGraw, Anthony,  Kevin and Patrick Smith, Ceara, Dylan Matlock, Victor, Neo, and many more I might add. Most of these years we walked up hill or parked on roads in Elysian park watching our boys through thick and thin. The majority of these wonderful gatherings were brought about by a man named Bob Kanner who worked in th...