The Clancy Brothers
I grew up listening to these guys. Not every day. Every St. Patrick's Day on parade day in Holyoke. We would load up the station wagon with lawn chairs recently swept clean of spider webs after a long winter in the basement. I was absolutely convinced that there were still spiders inside the chairs so I rarely sat down during the parade.
We would cheer on the bands, wave to the firefighters and laugh at the Shriner's in their tiny cars. They would race up one side of a moving ramp and down the other. Old timers with smiles of seven year olds as they beeped their horns and laughed at each other. The Mummers were next. Always last... incredible feathered costumes, their bagpipes blaring out the music from the Old Country.
After it was over we would pack the car back up and head over to my Uncle Tom and Aunty Shirley's house. Now, to fully appreciate who these people are and the kind of people they are... imagine two incredibly funny, warm and loving people. Add in a 100% Irish for my Uncle and a 100% German for my Aunt. Now add in the timing and sharp wit of Carol Burnett for Shirley and the gentle, straight-man humor from Johnny Carson-meets-Bill Cosby for my Uncle. These two could go on the road with their shtick. Aunty Shirley is about 5 feet tall and has always been able to sit in yoga-like positions with one leg bent at a near 200 degree angle on top of her other leg. My Uncle is of thin build and medium height, always lovely, gray and wavy hair on his head. Blue eyes that match my father's. And always, always a huge ear to ear grin. For the final layer to add... a few pints for St. Patty's. Cue the Clancy Brothers for background music. Fill a cozy house with friends and family, plates of soda bread and corned beef. Drinks all around. Ashtrays on the side tables. Shirley holding court from her brown recliner, telling stories of Old Holyoke and old times and old memories. It is one of my greatest disappointments that we weren't able to get any of those tales on tape. Or paper.
Aunty and Uncle have three kids: Meg, Lori and Tommy. With each child the gift of humor and that impeccable timing and the gift of gab seemed to grow and intensify. Tommy, the youngest and only son, remains to this day one of the funniest (his sisters would say spoiled ;0) )people I've met. His sister Meg can go line for line against him and the sparring is one of the highlights of our reunions. Now Lori, Lori is entirely different. She has this heart the size of North America. When I was younger I could have easily believed her to be the American version of Mary Poppins. I know, I know it sounds stupid. But if you met her, you would understand. The fact that my Aunt would coerce her into singing A Few of My Favorite Things in front of everyone annually didn't help with the whole Julie Andrews/Mary Poppins theory. When she speaks to you, you feel like you are the only person on earth that matters to her. All of them have this ability actually.
We would spend hours at their house every year. It would usually wind down and my father and his brothers, Tom and Jerry (I know), would sing. They never knew half of the words to most songs, so it was more like singing, then a little humming, one would remember a few words and the others would catch up, only to hum a little more. My father would sing a little Too Ra Loo Ra to finish the evening off. Or rather, that was my mother's cue for us to "get your coats, its time to go!"
We stopped doing these parties years ago. It was weird the first few years to not get together. I stopped going to the parade. Life took over there for a while. And then we realized that we really missed those times together. The only events we would get to see each other was at weddings and wakes. So, we decided one late night to have a family reunion every year and so now every third Saturday in July we get to have a little bit of those times again. Its pretty terrific. And its incredibly special to our kids to have this. To see in a sense where we come from and where we've been and where we're heading. This big Clan of Currans who love, laugh and stumble through some old songs together. Its good stuff.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
We would cheer on the bands, wave to the firefighters and laugh at the Shriner's in their tiny cars. They would race up one side of a moving ramp and down the other. Old timers with smiles of seven year olds as they beeped their horns and laughed at each other. The Mummers were next. Always last... incredible feathered costumes, their bagpipes blaring out the music from the Old Country.
After it was over we would pack the car back up and head over to my Uncle Tom and Aunty Shirley's house. Now, to fully appreciate who these people are and the kind of people they are... imagine two incredibly funny, warm and loving people. Add in a 100% Irish for my Uncle and a 100% German for my Aunt. Now add in the timing and sharp wit of Carol Burnett for Shirley and the gentle, straight-man humor from Johnny Carson-meets-Bill Cosby for my Uncle. These two could go on the road with their shtick. Aunty Shirley is about 5 feet tall and has always been able to sit in yoga-like positions with one leg bent at a near 200 degree angle on top of her other leg. My Uncle is of thin build and medium height, always lovely, gray and wavy hair on his head. Blue eyes that match my father's. And always, always a huge ear to ear grin. For the final layer to add... a few pints for St. Patty's. Cue the Clancy Brothers for background music. Fill a cozy house with friends and family, plates of soda bread and corned beef. Drinks all around. Ashtrays on the side tables. Shirley holding court from her brown recliner, telling stories of Old Holyoke and old times and old memories. It is one of my greatest disappointments that we weren't able to get any of those tales on tape. Or paper.
Aunty and Uncle have three kids: Meg, Lori and Tommy. With each child the gift of humor and that impeccable timing and the gift of gab seemed to grow and intensify. Tommy, the youngest and only son, remains to this day one of the funniest (his sisters would say spoiled ;0) )people I've met. His sister Meg can go line for line against him and the sparring is one of the highlights of our reunions. Now Lori, Lori is entirely different. She has this heart the size of North America. When I was younger I could have easily believed her to be the American version of Mary Poppins. I know, I know it sounds stupid. But if you met her, you would understand. The fact that my Aunt would coerce her into singing A Few of My Favorite Things in front of everyone annually didn't help with the whole Julie Andrews/Mary Poppins theory. When she speaks to you, you feel like you are the only person on earth that matters to her. All of them have this ability actually.
We would spend hours at their house every year. It would usually wind down and my father and his brothers, Tom and Jerry (I know), would sing. They never knew half of the words to most songs, so it was more like singing, then a little humming, one would remember a few words and the others would catch up, only to hum a little more. My father would sing a little Too Ra Loo Ra to finish the evening off. Or rather, that was my mother's cue for us to "get your coats, its time to go!"
We stopped doing these parties years ago. It was weird the first few years to not get together. I stopped going to the parade. Life took over there for a while. And then we realized that we really missed those times together. The only events we would get to see each other was at weddings and wakes. So, we decided one late night to have a family reunion every year and so now every third Saturday in July we get to have a little bit of those times again. Its pretty terrific. And its incredibly special to our kids to have this. To see in a sense where we come from and where we've been and where we're heading. This big Clan of Currans who love, laugh and stumble through some old songs together. Its good stuff.
Happy St. Patrick's Day.
YOU A@%, YOU MAD ME CRY JUST REMEMBERING ALL THE FUN, YOU WHERE TO LITTLE BUT WE USED TO WALK FROM GRANDMA CURRANS TO THE PARADE WHEN WE WHERE ALL LITTLE, BUT BOY THE MEMORIES NOW YES WE DO HAVE ST PATTY'S DAY IN JULY, HEY DON'T FORGET THE MUTTON PIE (PARTY) MAKING HAHAH LOVE YOU KATE
ReplyDeleteGREAT MEMORIES..WE LOVED IT..DAD CRIED...
ReplyDelete