THE FINAL CHAPTER

I left South Boston after 32 years when I married. Since my father lived there in his own home until he was 101 I visited him often especially to drive him to his medical appointments. He lived in City Point close to the “L’ St. Bath House and spent most of his retirement years there. He was close enough to walk and used a cane although he didn’t need one. I asked him why and he said that the traffic on Day Blvd. will always stop for someone with a cane. On his 100^th Birthday the L St. Brownies decided to throw him a big bash. They invited City Officials and they came. My favorite, “ Dapper” O’Neil showed up. They read letters from the President and other Congressional leaders, made speeches and showered him with numerous gifts. My father was quite pleased.

The last year and a half of his life he spent at the Chelsea Soldiers Home Nursing Facility. Organizations like the VFW and American Legion often gathered the veterans and returned them to their halls for food and entertainment. When I visited my father would tell me of the wonderful meals served and of the music he heard. He was quite happy there.

My wife and I were on vacation in Paris when we got the call from my son that he had passed. I had made all the arrangements down to the detail of the casket with the Funeral Home long before, so I wasn’t worried on that score. We returned in plenty of time for the Wake and Funeral and the traditional memorial dinner at Anthony’s Pier 4. As a senior St George Parishioner he was waked at the St. George Cathedral on East Broadway. Members of the “L” St. Bath House and other Southie residents came to pay their respect. We were lucky to have him for almost 103 years.

My father was born in the 19^th century, lived in the 20^th and wanted to make it into the 21^st. He died in 1999, one year short. It may have been the only goal he didn’t make in his lifetime.