FROM THE EMERALD ISLE TO THE LONG ISLE

He was always Jim, kind of like an insurance policy, sitting in his chair watching the world drama unfold in his living room and commenting on it. It seems to me that Roosevelt, Truman, Ike, JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagon could have had a great advisor had they tapped into him. America would have been a lot better off had they asked Jim for advice.

In all likelihood he wouldn’t have shied away from giving his advice either. He loved to watch the news shows, the panels of debate, intricacies of the courts when it came to Watergate, he loved it all.

Jim would have made a terrible politician, because he used compassion AND common sense to guide his life. He voted Democrat, but all immigrants did that. When he came to this country, he had a high school education from the old country, and he used every bit of it. He had a great head for numbers, and could meet the challenge of the English language with his intellect.

He was a family man first, foremost and last. His base of operation was his chair in the living room, in front of the TV and his office was the dining room table where he read the Times. He would often edit the pages of the Times and send in the corrections. Why? I never could figure that out, but it may have had to do with having things done and said correctly.

All his communications came through Helen, his faithful wife and companion, provided he didn’t annoy her. If he did he was given rather stiff directions on what he should do.

He’s gone now, been physically gone for quite a few years, April being the anniversary of his death, but he seems to linger on in spirit. He would have been over 101 years of age had he lived, he had a fruitful, productive life, I know because I met the family.

I guess when you meet someone of value as I did my father-in-law Jim: you kind of miss what you took for granted. I wonder though how he would have viewed ‘Wall Street Now’, with the demands these kids are making.

He worked two jobs, and I don’t think it ever occurred to him that someone else should give up their property, their money and their hard work for him. He didn’t want anything from anyone that wasn’t his. He didn’t tell others how to live their lives or was his envious of others their good fortune. On the other hand, he hated corruption; dishonesty and greed, so he just might have joined the picket lines on Monday and on Tuesday stay away. Who knows?

But I thought I’d tell you about him, he was a good man.