Dear Daddy’s Daddy,
This feels a bit weird, but stick with me. I want to thank you for the life that I live. I’ve heard about your life story for years, and there are lessons that I am trying to follow.
First, wow. You had a lot of courage to leave your family and country as a teenager to work for a better life. You left school at about 6th grade to work the family farm and then left Ireland at about 16 to go work in the English coal mines since at least it was a job. When I learned about the American coal mines, it sounded like a brutal and dangerous job. Yet, you did this job for 9 years, and you saved your money because you eventually had enough for passage to America.
Next, you made things happen. Every time we drive over the Tappan Zee Bridge, my mom tells me that you helped build the bridge and that somehow you used to dive into the water and get into the footings of the bridge to play handball at lunch. I’ve also heard that you worked the docks in Brooklyn, worked the Queen’s World Fair, and were a boxer.
My favorite story is how you became a carpenter when you had no carpentry skills. You fudged the truth a bit and said that you were a carpenter so that you could get a job. At the end of your first day, you were fired because you did not know any carpentry, but you learned something that day. Then, you got another carpenter’s job. You got fired again, but you learned a little bit more. Eventually, you had carpentry skills and were gainfully employed.
I am so impressed that you bought a dilapidated house and renovated it during the evenings and weekends while Nana was pregnant with Uncle Jimmy. Nana has told the story about how she was trying to hang wallpaper to sell the house while she was 9 months pregnant. Congrats! You sold the house and made money. At the same time, you were promoted to Foreman in the Carpentry Union (by the way, you must have learned some great carpentry skills). Nana says that everyone said you had made it, and that they were set for life. Nope, you quit to renovate houses full-time. WHAT?????
You worked really hard six days a week for decades. You figured out the New York housing market and what made money, and then you created a business by doing it again and again. My Dad still works in the business that you created. It is amazing to think that flipping some houses cemented a business that has funded a large family for over 50 years.
Finally, I have heard for years that you were a joker. You loved to tease people. That tells me that it is important to take some time to relax and enjoy life.
You truly are someone who lived the American dream. Nothing in life was given to you, and you made a good life for yourself, your kids, and your grandchildren (thanks!). I like to keep your example in mind while I go through high school. I remind myself that I should always have the courage to try new things and then work really hard to succeed. I have to be the one to make things happen for myself while I am standing on my own two feet. I try hard to remember to treat my education as a privilege, which is a privilege that you did not have.
Keep watching over me. I won’t let you down.
~Regan