"Teach your children well

 "Teach your children well"

Teach your children well

Their father's hell did slowly go by
Feed them on your dreams
The one they pick's the one you'll know by

Don't you ever ask them why
If they told you, you would cry
So just look at them and sigh
And know they love you"

"Teach Your Children"- Crosby, Still and Nash

     First it was a phone call on this day, then a text message asking Greg if his children had honored him on this sacred Father's day? His answer ranged from hell no! to "I hope not" that reflected his belief  that the day was a phony, made-up sham to justify florists selling lots of arrangements for Mother's Day which he also ignored and disparaged. I know he loved his red-headed offspring and enjoyed spending time with them more than any necktie or wicked slippers could demonstrate. Poor Lissy endured the rigors of childbirth twice and never got as much as a molasses chip for her motherhood, except for the other 364 days with an exemplary hubby. There is also the factor that Greg had a wonderful father who was gregarious (no pun intended) tolerant and a good role model outside of a few gray areas. The fact that there has been a long line of hard-working, humble, close to the earth men before us is impressive and worthy of more than a hamburger on the grill. The Sheehys were farmers from simple roots around Dingle Bay in Western Ireland. I would assume when they found the soil too full of rocks and the number of available potatoes not adequate they headed for America and one of the many Patricks found a living with milk cows in Florence. That is the good side of Greg's grouchy view of Father's Day in that he deeply appreciated the hard work those guys did so he could sit in a classroom, sit at a drafting table and sit in his big brown leather chair hoisting glasses of Woodbridge Cab. When I sat in a daze at the man's memorial I found the photos, videos and memoriess wonderful in every way but there were a couple of sentences spoken by Ed and Kathleen that reached into the deep purple blood of my heart. It was when Ed and Greg had some intimate chats after golf and when Kit Kat met him in the mornings and his sun salutation included the sentiment of how lucky they were. What an incredible treasure to have a father who you never feared or had to dread his harsh judgements. There should be a day for such rare birds and then maybe we could put some burgers on the grill and curse at  a Dodger game.

 

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that, you were made
Some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell, or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed

But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed
By our fathers, and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
Come the things we've handed down

"Things We Handed Down"

- Marc Cohn