Growing up, our family had a Christmas tradition of going around the dinner table and each naming our favorite gift. Not the gift of family, faith, talent, or brains. This was about what had awaited us under the tree that morning. A toy, a doll, a game. Looking back over the decades, I’d have to say my favorite unwrap-it gift involved multi-generational family members, plus talent. It was this painting: In short, this is a painting that Grandpa Vayo (Dad’s…
I can just hear my Grandma Cassidy bursting forth with that staccato laugh of hers, and then chiding me for using the word “gospel” in the title of this post. But Grandma, it’s okay. I didn’t capitalize “gospel,” so I don’t need to go to confession over this. We’re good. My younger brother was crazy about Grandma, too. Six years younger than me, Bill had a few extra years living close to her once Mom and Dad moved back to…
My dear Uncle Bill is gone. It wasn’t a surprise. Bill was 93 and had been in extended care for 18 months or so. But it still hurts like hell. Bill was an old-fashioned family man. As a young fellow, he permitted his mother and future mother-in-law (my Grandma Cassidy) to fix him up with a stunning redhead. “Oh, boy. Those legs,” he remembered decades later, from his bed in The Guilford House. His walk was no longer steady, but…
My great-uncle Pip was an animal lover. The more I ask relatives about him, the more I learn about the animals he loved. Many dogs over the decades. But it didn’t stop there. A goat named Fanny. A horse named Spot. Sheep. Bees, even. And today is his birthday. He was the eleventh and final child born to Joe and Maggie Regan, Irish immigrants who settled in New Haven in 1888. Pip, baptized Edward Thomas Regan, was born November 17,…
With apologies to Saint Patrick and every last Irish ancestor who came before me, let me just say that cauliflower is a great substitution for potatoes. Whether you’re looking for a keto recipe or simply something different, this Fauxtato Salad comes highly recommended. (Reminder, the French word “faux,” meaning “false,” is pronounced “foh.”) Simply take your favorite potato salad recipe and convert it. Fauxtato Salad (keto recipe) 1 head fresh cauliflower, steamed6-8 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, sliced/chopped1 cup mayonnaise2-4 Tablespoons of…
My great-aunt May Regan was a wonderful woman. She was kind and fun and caring. A good cook, too. May was also Mom’s godmother. May grew up on Lombard Street in Fair Haven. In later years, May lived with her brother Pip; together they were like a bonus set of grandparents to us. On June 12, 1989, Mom presented the eulogy she wrote about her godmother May at her funeral. Here it is: In Praise of May She was our…
Two of the four books I read this month are often quoted, even in modern times. From William Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde, their centuries-old writings are still read and quoted frequently. Week 1: The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene This is the third in my Folio Society set of Graham Greene books, and it’s my favorite so far. Our hero is … well, a nerd. He’s not in this thriller situation for anything other than good. Identified only as “D,”…
This story isn’t about my brother Billy, but the gentleman he was named after, our mom’s uncle Bill Regan. Since Mom’s passing last November, Bill Regan’s daughter Patty and I have been in touch via email, as we piece together stories about Grandma Cassidy‘s side of the family. Little Billy, the second youngest of Joe and Maggie Regan’s 11 children, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1908. He lived to be 96 years old. Patty sent me the following…
For me, the right thing to do this past week was … to think. The world is in an uproar and we all have a place in the turmoil. Social media is a cesspool of snarling racists, preachy Karens, and nasty name-callers. How can our country still be so ugly? When we moved from Connecticut to Indiana, I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. It was the fall of 1973. A few weeks after we moved…
In case you’re reading this years in the future, let me just say that the spring of 2020 is one we will most likely choose not to look back upon with fondness. A frightening pandemic swept the country, while calls to stay home and “flatten the curve” were, by all too many, ignored. Some in self-isolation rediscovered the joy of reading. Gary and I settled in, each with a pile of books, to stay safe and healthy. And well-read. It…