Highs and Lows

Intro: Under this umbrella will be shiny and stormy moments, randomly accessed from faulty memory and organized in no particular logical order or significance. Skip around and enjoy.

THE EARLIEST DAYS

My first eight years were spent living amongst nearly a dozen “lace curtain” Irish: The Byrnes of 1326 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY. Growing up was great in that 4-story townhouse with accommodations for the Family heads, Grandfather Henry John. and Grandma Ellen; my father, James Patrick, mother, Grace Marie, brother, James Dixon and the kid, Jackie (John Henry), my uncle Frank and Aunt Ethel and little Ethel, their daughter, my Aunt Anne and my Uncle Joe and for a time the 11 had 3 more, my Aunt Cathie and her husband Frank MacCarthy and their son, John MacCarthy for a total of one over a baker’s dozen. Maybe more.