Dad reunited with his mother

My aunt told my mother that the family took part of Dad’s ashes and scattered them on their mother’s grave in Ireland. And then, being good Catholics, sprinkled the ground with holy water. So my Dad is reunited with his beloved mother at long last.

I don’t know if a photo exists of my grandmother, Catherine, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen one. I did see a photo of my grandfather, Joseph, on his mass card. I know little about either of my grandparents on my dad’s side of the family. My dad spoke highly of his mother, he obviously loved her dearly and always said how sweet and hard-working she was. He had very little to say about his father. From what I have gathered, his father would be away from home a lot working, so he did not bond with his children the way Catherine did.

Who knows which came first, but Dad was more of the sensitive type, the young man who loved to read and write, not the kind who liked to engage in “manly” pastimes like working with tools. So he naturally gravitated towards his mother, and it probably helped that he had multiple sisters but only one brother. So the family was dominated by women.

I think it turned out to be a good thing, and I guess it turned out right that I was a girl. Dad always was very respectful of women, having been raised “right” by so many women back home.

I’m glad he is reunited with his mother at long last, if only symbolically. I know it is what he would have wanted.