So many questions pop up as I slowly make my way through the boxes and trunks from my parents’ house.

Mom kept a wooden keepsake box on her dresser. It now sits in our library, on top of a table that graced the entryway of her childhood home in New Haven.

It took me weeks to summon up the emotional strength to take a peek inside. Among the assorted notes from the past, prayer cards, a handwritten poem from fourth grade, and more, was this photo:

This is an undated photo of her father, Officer Frank Cassidy, my red-haired grandpa. There are no notes on the back, but since we’ve already established he joined the New Haven Police Force in 1925 and retired in 1952, that’s our time frame.

Grandpa appears to be standing in front of a local fair or carnival. If you look closely above his head, you’ll see a Ferris wheel.

From his high boots and the style of uniform pants, we know Officer Frank Cassidy was part of the motorcycle patrol officers that day. (They were also worn by mounted officers, but my aunt Bunny says she doesn’t remember her dad patrolling on horseback.)

Here’s another piece of family history, thanks to Bunny.

In a valise she gave me, packed with clips of my mom’s poetry and newspaper articles, was this:

Bunny wrote this letter to the editor (presumably to the New Haven Register), in praise of the mayor, who’d kept his promise to bring policemen “back on the beat.”

The above clip didn’t include a publication date (or any clues on the other side – it was part of an ad), so I didn’t know which mayor my aunt was praising and whom her father had helped train. (She didn’t recall, unfortunately, when I checked with her this week.)

But I knew who would know.

Retired NHPD Sergeant Tony Griego was just a text message away. A local police-force history buff, he’d helped so much when we looked into the story of my great-grandfather Patrick Cassidy, another brother officer.

Tony was pleased to report: “That one is easy. I worked for that mayor. When I went on the job I worked for Police Captain Biagio DiLieto. He later became the mayor of New Haven. Everyone loved him. He made it a point to attend all wakes in the city.”

Mayor DiLieto’s obituary in 1999 detailed that he joined the NHPD as a patrolman in 1948. That was four years before Grandpa retired, so they certainly could have trained together. DiLieto went on to become New Haven’s police chief and, throughout the 1980s, its mayor.

Grandpa passed away the spring of 1982. Several years later, I saw a customizable “throw” in a catalogue and thought it would be a wonderful gift for Mom.

Since I didn’t know all the specifics, Dad happily helped out via phone. Bunny was in cahoots with us, too.

Boy, was Mom surprised!

Rest in Peace, Officer Frank Cassidy. Maybe someday I’ll learn if you took a ride on that Ferris wheel.

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