John Joseph Kinsella died on
Thursday night, October 25th, 2018. He had just turned 92 years old
the week before and enjoyed a fun-filled birthday dinner.
The week in between his birthday and
when he left us, Mom and most of us kids and grandkids spent time in the
hospital with Dad, filling his room with many wonderful stories, jokes, tears,
hugs and laughter; phone calls and emails kept the rest of the family connected
to Dad. Pops was surrounded by a warm circle
of family and love, and he knew it.
It was a difficult week after he
died, but the calling hours and the funeral Mass and then the Irish wake and
burial in Waterloo were all very moving and emotional. So many of his friends
and family came out one last time to celebrate his rich life so well lived.
I wanted to do something different
for this blog. Here is a bit of Dad below—his ‘consolations’ or important
pieces of himself:
A few years ago, Dad emailed to my
sister Beth about a 15th century Irish poet who gathered his beloved
objects--his consolations, to him. Then Dad questions, what would HIS
consolations be?
Here
is my 21st century list:
The
Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
I
have it in our library and still read it occasionally
Casey
at the Bat
I
don’t actually have a copy but I don’t need one. I’m like the ancient Druids—I
have memorized it. I will have it forever.
My
brass telescope
It
gave me my most thrilling boyhood memories. Using it, I saw the four moons of
Jupiter and the craters on the moon.
Stamp
Album
In
addition to the album are packets of 1900 era US stamps I “rescued” from trunks
in the attics of barns in my old neighborhood and a kit for making watermarks
on stamps visible.
Windup
Record Player
I
spent untold pleasant hours listening to records on this player at 10 Maynard
Street.
Daisy
BB gun
It
taught me the pleasure of hunting and thanks to my older brother, Dick, I
learned to use it with caution so as not to harm anyone with it.
Stones
Black
stone from the beach at Rathcor, Co. Louth, Ireland
Rock
from the Mississippi River near St. Louis, MO
Rock
from Petrified Forest, Arizona
Marble
from Tadlock Quarry, Ontario, Canada
Mica
from Otty Lake, Canada
My
Father’s Hammer
Special
hammer with magnetic tip he used when he worked on upholstery
Baseball
Glove
Outfielder’s
glove I used when I played on the Waterloo Baseball team
Green
Skis
Handmade
by my Dad. Bob, Mary and I used them for several years on the fabulously high
Bunker Hill near Waterloo. They became known as “The Fastest skis on Bunker
Hill.”
Black
Mathematics Formula Book
Used
at the Univ of Texas, it contained every formula needed for algebra, geometry,
trigonometry and calculus.
Picture
taken at Dermot MacMurrough’s grave in Ferns, Ireland
Taken
during the trip of “The Traveling Angels.”
Dermot's Grave in Ferns, Ireland--April 1982
Dad, Beth, Dan, Pat and Florence
Confirmation
Slip from Sage Rutty of the purchase of 2 shares of Haloid stock
Eight
years later this was sold and used to purchase the Old cottage on Otty Lake
Letter
from Joseph Wilson, CEO of Xerox Corporation
Announced
he had awarded me 200 shares of stock options of Xerox stock. Money from the
sale of this stock was used to put all you girls and boys through
college.
Pops, so many memories of you! I remember one dark summer
night long ago at Otty Lake. You and I went outside and just looked up as you
pointed out all the constellations we could see—the Milky Way, Cassiopeia, the
Pleiades… . How I loved Orion as he stretched across the sky after that. You
showed me the Little Dipper and how to find the North Star. You said to me
‘Patty, you can never be lost if you look to the stars to guide you; just look
up. Find your way.’
I am feeling pretty lost right about now, Dad, but I
hear you-- I will go out into the chilly night and look up to the stars. I know
you will be right there with me, holding me close and pointing out the clusters
and galaxies I cannot quite see yet.
