Happy Birthday, Dad!!

It’s a special day here at Bagwine Ruminations…

I don’t do Birthdays any longer for readers, because invariably I miss someone, but…

June 5th, 1921 was my Dad’s Birthday…

Jack Mahoney, in spite of never passing on his good teeth, full head of hair, and good eyesight on to me, was the one who did will to me…

His humor, his wisdom, his love for words, and his empathy for all. And for that, I thank him beyond any thought, any word…and any prayer.

And more than being my father…he was my Dad. He was, simply the best.

My dad, was a man who grew up in times when people had nothing, yet he was fairly well off. And what did he recognize?

Not what people such as he had, but rather, what people around him, didn’t have.

After World War II, he started a family, and in spite of the demands of his new wife, family, and work, he went on the road with two “niggers” and helped to integrate Catholic parishes throughout Southwest Ohio.

He wasn't Jesus, but he was living the WWJD kinda life.

He worked hard. He wrote his poetry. He never forgot that there was always someone, somewhere, with less than him.

Jack was as soft, bendable, and adaptable as a reed bending in the Little Miami River, and at the same time an unyielding rock against injustice in the world.

He was not some sort of burly "man" among men, but rather, a man who sought and found the best in humanity.

And, helped to define and utilize the best in humanity.

I still miss him at times, but he is always with me.

When I shudder at the injustices in the world, his hand still clenches with mine.

When I read Wordsworth, Yeats, or Tennyson, he is still reading along with me. (And like me, claiming he was better.)

When I think of all that this world could be, he still asks, just like when I was a curious little child, “Why Not, Matthew?”

He was always about taking life and the world to its extreme and peaceful end. He cussed like the sailor he was, and yet, was as spiritual as they come.

He was, my Dad…And I’ll always try to be like him. Not in all respects, but when it comes to having empathy for all people, and cherishing the written word?

I will never waiver. I will never falter. I will never let him down.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

Cheers!!

And for those of you who still want to read...

I think if I should have to go,

before the things I want to tell you

have been said,

I could not be at rest, eternally,

but must awake

and seek your soul instead.

And then if you would smile

into my eyes and say,

"I know for it was so with me",

my happy dust would mingle

with the earth,

as endless rivers flow to the sea.

In Closing...Jack Mahoney (c)1981