My sister Sheila is in charge of show and tell today at her daughter's school. She is taking photos of our Irish grandmother, Kathleen Dee Kiely. We called her Nana. I loved the idea, so I am posting them here too for my show and tell. Nana died ten years ago at the age of 92. I miss her.
I met my grandfather when I was a child, but I don't remember him. He died young of emphysema. I recently discovered a book entitled On Another Man's Wound: A Personal History of Ireland's War of Independence
by Ernie O'Malley. Jerry Kieley is one of the men involved in the fight. My mother isn't sure if it is her father because the last name is spelled differently. But we know he was part of the war, and when I read this description, I liked to believe it was him:
For I don't know it may be so,
But a bachelor is easy and he's free,
For I've lots to look after
And I'm living all alone
And there's no one looking after me.
I wish I had a night by the fire with him to hear his stories. So many questions.
When my mother was a teenager, the family got a dog, a Boxer named Lance after the knight. Her father took some wonderful photos of her and Jerry and Lance. Last year, I put them together into this video for her birthday:
This photo is of Nana and me at my sister Regan's baptism in Cleveland, 1973. I love her Jackie O suit. And I can see the charm bracelet she always wore with eights hearts with each of her grandchildren's names inscribed on them. She always jingled and that sound, when I hear it on someone else, makes me think of her. That, and the smell of Scotch on the rocks, not in a boozey way, but in a homey, one drink before dinner, Nana is in town and we're eating at the big table tonight way. Cozy.
Anyway, my mother always said a true Irishman doesn't need to wear green. So without any shamrocks or leprechauns or pots of gold (not that there's anything wrong with them), wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day. And if your grandparents are still a part of your life, pick up the phone and ask them about theirs.
