Here is my Dad as a young man enjoying the fresh snow fall in front of our house on Delaware Street. Even as a young man my Dad had a fondness for camelhair overcoats. He must have been in school in this picture because he never wore bow ties for informal occasions after his school years. J. Barry O'Connell Jr. |
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Here I am in a place of mystery and adventure. To you
it may look like a simple chair but you would be wrong.
In this spot knights fought and dragons were slain. Here
I made friends with Winnie the Pooh and Ratty and Mole
from Wind in the Willow for this was my story chair. This
is the chair in my parents sitting room next to their
bedroom where my Dad would tell us stories. My grandmother has a deep knowlege of textiles and from her I gained an appreciation of the various and sundry qualities of textile fibers. |
| First grade, I still remember our maroon blazers with the school crest on the pocket. What a time I had, the classes I could muddle my way through, but the other children baffled me. |
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What wonderful snow forts we would build. Joey worked for my Grandmother and when he cleared the driveway he would pile the snow up by the side porch and the tower. By the time this storm finally passed the pile was well over our heads. |
| This is my Dad with my brother Tom in the middle. It is amazing how much Tom's younger son Ben looks like Tom when he was a lad. Tom and I have stayed very close. |
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Two long years I diligently studied the piano. I can still do the opening five notes of Dixie and that is all I remember. |
| My Grandmother had a profound affect on my life. I to the right and Tom to the left. |
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At 10 I received my first real golf clubs. I still have them, Jack Burke Junior model clubs. |
| My Dad and Tom with me in the center. I remember that meal well. My father was a stickler for manners and the dinner served was the dinner to be eaten. We were having Lobster Newburgh and he insisted that I eat mine even though I did not want it. As I developed my taste for lobster over the years he would often tease me about when I refused to eat any. |  |
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Here we are on an outing. Shirts were to be pressed and shoes shined. In those days sneakers were rubber and canvas and came in two styles, tennis and basketball neither were appropriate for an outing. |
| This was on the occasion of the christening of my brother James. I am holding the little tyke while my father is holding Warren. Behind Tom is my grandmother and next to her is Jean Franchi. Jean was my Godmother and a very special person to me. Jean came to work as my great uncle Tim secretary when she was a young woman. After Tim passed away she worked for my Grandfather until his death and for my grandmother until she herself passed away. When ever I see a dragon Carpet I think back to her living room when I was a wee lad. I am pretty sure that she did not have a dragon carpet so it is funny how memory work. |
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