And yet again

Lots of water has flown under the bridge since my last entry in this blog.   To tell the truth the passing my our dear sister Chris and our darling Brianna knocked the stuffing out of me and I just hadn't the heart to sit bhere and write.

But its about time the blog was worked on again.

So its time for me to continue to write so that family and those who come after us will know something of what life was like in Dublin from about 1950 onwards.

So its my intention, and I hope the rest of the family will join me, in describing my earliest memories, my first day at school, memories of childhood and teens, social life, good friends, school teachers who left an impression, our first television set, radio programs that interested us, our local shops and their owners, etc etc.....  in general a document that our grandchildren will read and learn from, and their children too.

Now to do some thinking.   Back soon I hope, and I hope that others of the Leonard Family will contribute too.

Thank you for visiting.

Back again

Well after such a long time here I am again to continue writing posts in the blog.

I stopped writing after our sister Chris passed as I lost interest in so much because of her passing.  People will say that time heals all pain.  I find that it doesn't, but what time does is teach you how to deal with the pain...  doesn't take it away though.

I'm hoping that my brothers and sisters will add to the blog as we go along, so as to not only share our memories, but to make this blog a historical doument for the whole family.

I also hope that this will mark a continuation of the blog from where we left off.

Here's a recent gathering of the family in the Goblet in Artane.  From left, Marie, Ellen, Paul, Tony and me.

Dublin, a Cruise through the Streets, Part One

Here's a short video I made around Dublin as I rode my bike with a small camera mounted on the handlebar.



- Jimmy.

Chrissie

I would also like to add my thoughts about a sweet sister and pal who left us so suddenly 3 weeks ago tomorrow.

Thinking back to this time 3 weeks ago, it's hard to believe she was here in my home and we were laughing so much. Marie & Paul were here too. She came to stay with me the night before. Normally she would stay for a few weeks but this time she was adamant she was going home on Friday night. She was nervous being away from her home after the time she was rushed into hospital in June. We almost lost her then but God knows what a good person she is and he gave her extra time here with us.

I dropped her home on Friday night and 4 of her 7 sons were there and we had a laugh and a chat and a good slagging match, aimed at all of us. Her last words to me in person were "Drive carefully and text me when you get home to let me know you arrived home safely...and lock those doors!!" She always warned me to lock the car doors in case someone would jump in beside me and abduct me while I was doing 120 down the motorway. I sent her a text when I got home and I was texting her on Saturday morning. Then came the phone call that turned my whole life and the lives of all of my family upside down.

Looking back over the last couple of weeks, it's like God was moving Chrisie's loved ones into position like chess pieces on a board. She got to see her brother Tony and niece Emma, who came over from America in June to see her when she was in hospital. She loved seeing Tony and even though she couldn't speak, she indicated to him that he had put on weight and she thought this was funny!She got to see Jim and Sean and Antoinette and she loved that visit. She told me she really enjoyed that. Gary, her son, was home from his trip to Africa, her son Keith and his fiancee and her grand-daughter Chroi decided to travel from Cork to Dublin on a whim the day before she died.

As Jim already mentioned, she was glowing and I asked her on Friday night what the secret of her eternal youthful complexion was and we came to the conclusion that it was "Oil Of Oxygen".

My last impression of Chrissie is a happy mother surrounded by her family and loving it. I think about her every day. I miss her smile, what a smile!! I miss her wisdom, I miss everything about her. My world is a sadder place without her but I have no doubt that she is blessing the lives of others who were there to meet her as she passed over, especially our Mam & Dad and her baby Aisling.

"It has been said, 'time heals all wounds.' I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, (protecting its sanity), covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens. But, it is never gone. "---Rose Kennedy---

This is nice and applies to Our Chris's passing.....

Parable of Immortality ( A ship leaves . . . ) by Henry Van Dyke - 1852 - 1933

I am standing by the seashore.

A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.

She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sun and sky come down to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says,

'There she is gone!

Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.

She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her.

And just at the moment when someone at my side says,

'There! She is gone! ' ,

there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout:

'Here She comes!!'

.

Goodbye buddy, God be with you till we meet again.

.

Ellen.

Our precious sister ~ our Chris ~

As Marie says below our sister Chris left us... left us broken hearted. People talk about bereavement, but that to me is just a word right now....my 'bereavement' is to be broken hearted at the loss of my little sister.

Yep I'm the 'big brother' of the bunch, and Chris was my little sister.

The day after she passed on I was sitting here feeling a whole mixture of emotions.... unspeakably sad, lost, angry, not believing that my little sis had passed on.

Thinking of our childhood in particular I remembered all of the family as we were before we went our separate ways as the kids of all families do eventually. And I remembered Chris and her place in the family as a daughter to our parents, and a sister to the rest of us. And my thoughts were in the main filled with happy memories. One I remembered was when we sat playing cards at home and when Chris lost she kicked up holy murder... oh she hated to lose at playing cards. I remembered the chicken I brought home after the crate it was in with it's brothers and sisters fell off a truck and I helped the driver round them up -- all except one which I brought home. Okay so I'm a chicken thief! But this is not about me so lets move on a bit. That fluffy little chicken grew up to be a big cockerel which seemed to take a dislike to poor Chris. One day Chris went out to the back garden and the fowl committed a foul deed... it attacked Chris. If Ma and Da hadn't been there Chris might have been injured.... though knowing Chris perhaps the cockerel might have came off worse in that contest. The cockerel disappeared next day and I never saw Dad looking so innocent... could he have committed a foul deed? Nah, not Dad.

I remember how Ma used to make sure the girls didn't go out unless they were spick and span.... and Chris took a lot of pride in the huge ribbons Ma used to put in her hair.

And I remember other times too.... times when I thought my sisters were going to slaughter each other over a cardigan or something that one had accused of swiping from the other.... and as a mere male I took the obvious steps in such situations -- I got out as fast as I could... only returning after peace had been restored.

Moving on I come to a few short days before Chris passed on. My daughter Antoinette and I had picked up my grandson Sean from the creche near Chris's house. Sean and Chris took to each other immediately. I don't think I've ever seen Chris look so good. Her skin seemed to glow and there was that old twinkle in her eye, and Antoinette and Chris were soon laughing while exchanging memories that I wasn't invited into.... girl stuff I suppose. After leaving with a promise to be back soon Sean said he loved Chris and wanted to go back again to visit her and her doggie. Sadly that was a promise that couldn't be kept...

The night before Chris passed on she and my other sisters, Ellen and Marie, as well as one of my brothers Paul had a great time together.... for which I am so grateful.... that her last full day was such a happy one. The last picture in the slide show below shows Chris on that day. Marie and Paul are also in the photo.

Chris, I was looking through my photos and found some of you as a little girl... and as a woman.... but always as my little sister.

I miss you so badly no words can describe.... but this little slide show, of all of us that I put together helps.... but just a little.

Now, the slide show dedicated to the little girl with the pageboy haircut.... I love you little sister.... I always have and wish I had told you.... wish so much I had hugged you that last day we met and parted saying I'd see you in a few days..... but I hope you can see into my heart.

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!

- Jim.