Wonderment...And Heartache

There was nothing better growing up than coming from a large, close & loving family. Not just with ten brothers and sisters but with nearly twice as many uncles and aunts on both my dad's side of the family and my mother's. Add in what seems like hundreds of first cousins and you get the idea of growing up in the Kelly-O'Brien family. Irish Catholic to the core! Perhaps a bit more Irish than Catholic for some today but the memories of both still linger for us all. The holidays, the birthdays; the visits. They were all amazingly special in a way that some may never understand, but amazing they were. Yet, life happens. We get older, we get grayer, we hopefully get wiser; and in the process we begin to say goodbye. For the wonderment of such a family is also its heartache. So many to love and so many to loose. Earlier this month we said farewell to the head of yet another great Irish family line, my Uncle Bill Halloran, my mother’s brother-in-law. Then just yesterday my mom’s own brother Charlie, the last of her generation. Heartache. But for those of us who remain we hold on to the wonderment. The wonderment of the family that they both helped build. The brothers, sisters, cousins….the families that they now build to hopefully create that same wonderment that my generation has known. Because that wonderment will be the only thing to help lessen that inevitable heartache.

I Love A Parade

So it seems that Mother Nature doesn’t feel like turning things over to Old Man Winter any time soon in Rutland County. She hasn’t even really invited autumn in just yet but that won’t stop the festivities planned in Rutland this weekend. Saturday night the streets of downtown Rutland will be full of the ghosts, goblins, witches & spectacular floats that will make up the 58^th annual Halloween Parade. The parade is one of the largest & longest running Halloween parades in the United States, getting its start when Eisenhower was still President. The first parade took to the streets of Rutland in October of 1960 and has been part of Rutland’s history ever since. My first parade was in 1993 and as a local radio guy I have been part of it ever since.

So even though Mother Nature isn’t quite ready to relinquish her hold on the warmer weather, the good news is it should be a perfect fall evening for the 58^th Halloween Parade. 94-5 The Drive will be there on Saturday night as we have been since we went on the air here in Rutland in 2008. Look for us….we’ll be looking for you!

Isla

Five years ago this past September I was enjoying one of the special days in my life when my daughter was married to one of the finest men I know. Now, five years on I spent the anniversary of that wonderful day with my granddaughter as mom & dad celebrated their fifth anniversary. When you have a chance to spend time with the innocence of a beautiful child you remember how truly special & truly important the simplest things in life are. The burdens of everyday life that always seem to bog you down melt away when you take the time to let yourself look inward; to the truly important things in your life. Like the wonderment  of being a grandfather. A beautiful feeling only surpassed by an even more beautiful little one...named Isla.