MY PATERNAL LINE

these are my paternal Irish immigrant grandparents
who lived down the street from us

c. 1952, not too long before they passed

with my oldest sibling Tommy

who'd become Father Campion, a Franciscan friar,

and the silhouette of I'm pretty sure my sister Irene on the porch behind them

my grandfather "Iron Mike" was a man of few words

my grandmother I remember dearly

she was kind and loving but also had a terrific wit

and self deprecating sense of humor

the last time I saw her was not long after my grandfather died

she told me she couldn't stick around

because she could hear my grandfather

giving the angels hell for not making his favorite dish right

she died not long after that

I loved them both