Mister Sheehy is still here!

 Mister Sheehy is still here!






Continuing a BC and Johnny Sheehy thread the story comes from deep in the vaults of an infamous night when two men tried to pick a winning football card and ended up not being able to pick their noses. Another story that might be dealt with later was the fire that burned down the Creason family garage in 1955. After BC had curated the insurance reports the family gained a swimming pool, a nice car port and a state of the art Rumpus room that was poolside. The floor was linoleum and the room seemed somewhat exotic with just an adjustable sofa, a standing glass shade lamp and a couple of comfy chairs. Of course, there was a fully stocked bar, a bathroom for pool changes and a place to pee besides the pool. On this Fall evening in maybe 1956 there was a very rare visit by just John Sheehy who was coming over to check out the Rumpus situation and tipple while choosing a winning card (covered earlier). The main attraction of the new Room was the complete privacy of the space for men who were surrounded by kids and wives for most of their lives. On this night the freedom seemed intoxicating or maybe it was the booze that caused the inebriation of both of these gentlement. There were shouts and laughter heard echoing out of the brightly designed modern room and deep into the revelry a loud crash was heard. The glass shaded lamp was knocked over by a staggering BC who then stepped on a shard of glass and was bleeding from a wound in his foot. At first he cried out but being anaeshesized as he was the picking and pie-eyed pals continued on until the bottle was empty. My Mom knew better than to enter into this lion's den and left the broken glass for next day cleanup by the perpetrators. The most memorable part of this story was when the Creason kids rose to get ready for school there was still Mister Sheehy's car in the driveway with him in it! It was not exactly discussed further among the children but either he was unable to see the road or even the ignition but John wisely remained legless and safe in our driveway. What Grace had to say about finding her bed empty in the morning we may never know. These kinds of Rumpus Room hi-jinks did not occur again and the well-oiled card picks failed as usual.



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