HAPPY ST. PADDY'S DAY!

       

       On this St. Patrick’s Day, I wanted to share some of my favorite Irish blessings, sayings, toasts, and memories.  Even though, us kids were only ¼ Irish (paternal grandfather’s side) we seemed to celebrate our Irish culture more than our German or Polish.  All 6 kids had Irish first names and of course, St. Patrick’s Day was a big day for us.  The first thing we learned was that you never wear orange on that day.  I think I must have taken that to heart because to this day, I can’t wear orange unless it is Halloween.  Of course, I never did develop a taste for corned beef or cabbage.  Why couldn’t it be tri-tip and artichokes?  I love those!  Oh, well, on to the blessings and sayings.

       The saying I remember most from my Grandpa Charlie and in fact, maybe it was written in their house somewhere is the following

May your glass be ever full.
May the roof over your head be always strong.
And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead.


I always liked that thought – being in heaven before the devil knew you were dead.


       I wish I would have thought to have an Irish blessing at my wedding.  I would have used this one –


May God be with you and bless you.
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune, rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness.
From this day forward.


Recently I just found this blessing, which new to me isn’t probably new at all.

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been
the foresight to know where you're going
and the insight to know when you're going too far.

My friend Mary added a bit more to it –
“ and may you have the eyes to know and appreciate where you are right now, in this moment.”

On the fun side is an Irish blessing that my friend Margie shared with us –

May those who 
love us,love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts:
And if He doesn't turn their hearts
May he turn their ankles
So we'll know them by their limping.

What to eat on St. Paddy’s Day (I did learn recently that you never write Patty’s Day because Patrick is Padraic in Gaelic and therefore the nickname would be Paddy, not Patty!) when you don’t like corned beef and cabbage, well how about Irish Coffee?

"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."~~By Alex Levine.~~

In closing, my favorite Irish blessing –

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand

Wishing you all – 

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh!  (Happy St. Paddy’s Day!)

TOUR OF DUTY IN KOREA

         After graduating from Loyola High School, Donald Sherlock attended Los Angeles City College with the career goal of becoming a dentist.  While attending college, he also worked as a postal carrier, delivering mail to a route in Sherman Oaks.  On his route, he met his future wife Joan as she was working in one of the offices that he delivered mail to.  Don and Joan married in October of 1951 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Van Nuys.

          Four weeks after the wedding in November 1951, Don was drafted into the US Army. He served the first year at Ford Ord (which interesting enough is the location of California State University, Monterey Bay).  In November of 1952 (2 ½ months after the birth of his eldest son) he was sent overseas to Korea.  He was stationed in Korea for a year.  He was discharged as a Corporal and received the United Nations Award and the Korean Combat Medal for his time in the service.  Don served as a medic during his time in the army.

          The above photo shows Don at Ford Ord (in Seaside, California) in 1952.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

         My father Donald Joseph Sherlock was born to Charles Sherlock and Theresa Anna Barbara Nebgen on this date 83 years ago.  At the time Charlie was recuperating from his injuries on the Chicago police force and was wondering what lied ahead for him.  He knew he was done serving on the force and would receive a pension but where should he go with his young family and what would the future hold for him in terms of work.

          Donald was born by Cesarean section and therefore was a beautiful baby from the beginning.  Of course, he mentioned this fact, along with his winning a beauty contest with his mother, to his kids for most of their childhood.  Don’t you wish you won a beauty contest?  The photo below is the picture from the beauty contest and he was a beautiful baby. 

          Donald had two older brothers – Edmund, who was 2 ½ and Charles (Chuck) who was 7 when Donald was born.  When Donald was 6 months old, the family moved from Chicago to Redondo Beach, California.  Dad told me that they had made some sort of hammock across the backseat and that is how Baby Donald moved to California.  Hopefully, there were no sudden stops!

          When Donald was 5 years old, they moved to the Hollywood Hills and more specifically to a house on Beachwood Drive, where he would spend his childhood and adolescent years.  After attending kindergarten in Redondo Beach, Donald attended the first few years of elementary school at Cheremoya Elementary in Hollywood before transferring to Holy Sacrament Elementary School.  For high school, he attended the prestigious Loyola High School in Los Angeles.  

          Now, that I have started writing this I think this may be a 2 or 3 post story. So, I will wrap up this post by saying’ “Even though, Dad, is no longer with us, we still think about him a lot, the example he set,  and the impact that he had on our lives.”  Amazingly, his first grandchild was born on his birthday in 1977.  He was a very proud Grandpa that day. 

          Happy Birthday, DAD!   We love and miss you!!