Grandpa Easside

I almost forgot it was St. Patrick's Day today - that is until I got on the train on the way home from work and found it was full of loaded Irish people wearing green. Yeah, ya gotta love the Irish, and as Homer Simpson once said about St. Patrick's Day "It's the most important drinking day of the year!".

Once I realized that it was indeed March 17th, it got me thinking about my Irish American Great Grandfather. He was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1894. That's him in the photo below. The little guy next to him is me.

He died in 1973, not long after this photo was taken. I only knew him until I was three, but I still have vivid memories of him. Well, maybe I don't remember every detail about him, but I certainly remember the the song he used to sing to me. I actually used to call him "Grandpa Easside", because he always sang the following song to me ....

East Side, West Side, all around the town
The tots sang "ring-around-rosie," "London Bridge is falling down"
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rourke
Tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York

So, Happy St. Patrick's Day, Grandpa Easside! I may only be 1/8 Irish, but I'm an Irishman today.

... and considering I'm Irish today, I'm going to take the liberty of telling an old Irish joke.

What's the difference between an Irish wedding and an Irish funeral?

One less drunk.

Don't worry, Grandpa Easside wouldn't be offended by the joke above. His son used to tell jokes like that all the time. If there's one thing you can say about Irish folks, it's that they don't take themselves too seriously ( maybe it's all the pints of Guinness, but it's true ).

Rich