November 24 2015

About my sons; the boys! Who can afford to be judgmental, certainly not me! An opinion is one thing; a mental ruling is something else. Whenever I speak with my two boys the harmony we always had is rediscovered. Not that it was ever missing, just dormant.

Barry John knows that dad could never sour towards that young man and he is quite entitled to be secure in that knowledge. By the same token, Derval is more than aware that his ould fella could never maintain any enmity or ill-feeling towards either of those boys and is correct in this presumption. The fact is that we can all play little games, but eventually we must realize that the close bond between us cannot be sundered by trivia. Perhaps they know, more acutely than I know, what is significant and what bullshit is. Am I waiting to play catch-up in this game or are they? When they laugh, they almost echo one another.  Good for them; they are light years ahead of the rest of us in mental harmony and that possessed-of-ability cannot be bought, leased, hired or stolen.

The only conclusion that dad can come to is that they are fortunate and their fondness for each other is understated but important. May the Deity bless all of their endeavours! In the light of my stated position on this situation, it must be assumed that their inherent dispositions of well-being must be a genetic combination of unlikely bedfellows. Angie baby is priceless in terms of honesty, down to earth savvy, calling a spade a spade, and telling it like it is when it is. Dolores was always a rock of sense and gave her qualities of Mayo decency to all of her children.

I’ve spent some time reflecting on the relationships between fathers and sons and as always there are more questions than answers. Is it better to see yourself in your son or not to so do? Are we always ready to recognize the talents demonstrated as proof positive that we have achieved or can any father be even moderately objective?

When I compare Derval John to Barry John what conclusions may I reach? Derval is more methodical, deliberate and analytical and thinks he is sure of what he wants. Barry John is more laid back and less fussy, lacks the need for advance planning of his elder brother and is equally as clever and intelligent but in a less assuming way. Both are possessed of outrageous amounts of charm and are in no way self-doubting. With total application either could achieve almost anything. In each case their strength and Achilles Heel is their total honesty.

They didn’t inherit property, financial assets or things material of this world. They inherited good grace from their mothers and a sufficiency of grey matter from both sides to ensure their respective abilities to survive and prosper. This will be enough.