My Brother-In-Laws....Sometimes it's kinda funny to look back at the early years of my life and the people who would somehow just show up at our front door on 86th Street...especially these gangly youths...who were barely old enough to drive, who seemingly carried a swagger of reckless abandon...wanting to take my sisters out on a date...But, for the most part, that is how I remember my brother-in-laws, to-be, back in the late 60's.
Each of them quite different but all part of a young generation...that was quite ahead of their time...They would be driving the coolest cars ever to be made...The cars of the 60's were incredibly huge and they had enormous power...all style-ized, spacious, dazzling, souped up---the ultimate vehicles for teenagers to go to wild extremes...in every which way...
Here these young guys would pull up to our house on 86th Street, with probably a 12-pack of Schlitz Beer hidden in a paper sack, in the back seat...trying to contain their excitement of meeting up with my sisters for the evening...
Of course, they had my Dad...famously called Papa Joe, by them, under their breath...to contend with some times...It was the wild card they had to deal with...
Who would answer the front door when they rang the door bell? Would it be me...Jimmy???-The frenetic little bugger who was always full of fun. My mother...who would always try to be as gracious as possible and almost embarrass these guys with her harmless little inquisitive banter or would it be...Uh ohhh...Ohhh noo, Papa Joe!!!
If it was the wild card and it was Papa Joe...all that swagger and confidence went out the window for these young guys as they would face the firing squad...of blustery warnings of dating his young daughters and exactly the time he expected them to arrive home that night...It must have seemed like an endless 5 minutes as they tried to initiate a conversation with my father who pretty much knew exactly what was going down for the evening, so he was going to lay down the law and put a little damper on their unbridled excitement...
Finally, my sisters would emerge, all bright & bubbly...It seemed as though, girls back then had to expend quite a bit of fuss getting all pretty & perfect for their boyfriends...probably using a whole can of hair spray or conforming to the hip creations that were so boldly different...at that time...
In a matter of seconds, they grabbed ahold of each others hands and zooooom...out they would fly, out the door. This little ritual would repeat itself over & over, night after night, sister after sister...In a blink of an eye, they all quickly hopped in their classic cars of those olden days and sped off into the night...
It was a timeless, happy & joyful era for my 5 sisters and their 5 boyfriends they would someday marry. These were the most care-free moments of their lives...They had their whole lives ahead of them together, yet at that moment, they were just out to create as much fun and wreak as much havoc as possible, within the time frame my father had established, for each one of them...
It was the 60's...A very, very uproarious, adventurous time in our history where the Vietnam War was in full stride...all kinds of cultural upheavals, assassinations, wild music and wild times seemed to wait around every corner...America was on top of the world and this generation saw their future as bright and hopeful, despite some of the negative overtones that crept in, once in awhile...
Let's look back at these guys...as I first recalled getting to know them, some 40 years ago.
First up, Charlie Gries...He was probably 17-19 when he came calling for my sister Maureen, probably heading out, to some dance or social event at DePaul University where they both attended...He had known my sister from growing up in the neighborhood and after they met up again in college, sparks flied...Charlie had a bunch of younger brothers so he liked to play tricks on me like taking me by the collar of my shirt and lifting me off of the ground and sticking me onto a door-knob, where I would helplessly dangle my feet, unable to touch the ground...leaving me, calling out for help...I would later get even with him, one night up in Knollwood, as he left a full 16 ounce beer on a table and left the room...I ran up and guzzled most of it down....laughing hysterically as Charlie and my sister came back to find his beer almost gone...I was only 5 or 6 at the time...Charlie always had an uncanny, wry sense of humor and we always got along great...Maureen and Charlie may not have ever got together if it hadn't been for DePaul...yet they seemed destined to be with one another...from the word go...
Next up, was Ed Haggerty, who, at the time, wore these thick black-rimmed glasses and had more of a clean-cut image about him...but at heart, he was just as wild, if not more so, than all of my other brother-in-laws...I remember Ed coming home from a carnival with my sister Kathy, after winning her a giant stuffed animal in some type of carnival game...Well, that night happened to be my birthday, and as both of them arrived late that night, carrying in this huge, giant stuffed Saint Bernard Dog, I ran up and grabbed it out of Kathy's arms, thinking it was a birthday present for me because I had about 20 other stuffed animals...I think Ed just stood there helplessly, shocked, as Kathy just patted his arm, and didn't let on that it was actually a special keepsake of hers from Ed...Ed was from the other side of the neighborhood but once he set eyes on my sister Kathy...there was no doubt...he had every intention of keeping her by his side...for a lifetime...
Next up, Joe Howard..."Howie" was a riot who really was always fun to see come thru our doors. Whether he would show up to give me a few packs of baseball cards or going down to the basement to play hockey with me...My sister Patsy, would almost have to pull him away because I'd be having so much fun...I can even remember Howie showing up, right after school and watching THE THREE STOOGES with me, instead of studying with Patsy as they had intended. I think one of the first times I went to McDonalds was with Joe & Patsy, where I feasted on their delicious french frys which tasted alot better back then...much better then now...Howie always was and always will be a sports junkie...whether we would be playing tag/run-in-bases or tossing around a frisbee...essentially...Howie was always up for throwing a ball around...And he and my sister Patsy would grow inseperable as the months to months and years to years would fly by...
Next up, John Martin...."Teeny" had the coolest car, a Chevy Chevelle Supersport 494 convertible...It had that "WOW" factor as he pulled up to our curb out front on 86th Street. He had the most wild persona about him, with his long side-burns and long curly brown hair...My sister Joan never knew what to expect with a wild night out with "Teeny"...He came from a big family, too, and his father was a Chicago cop, who was good friends with my father...But that didn't mean my Dad was gonna cut Teeny any slack...Especially riding around in that hot car and sometimes showing up a little past curfew...Teeny had a reputation of hanging out with a wild crowd and sometimes I wonder if he wasn't the wildest of the bunch of them...John Martin was your classic Tommy More guy who always had a wisdom all his own and a very funny, contagious laugh...that would pop up out of the blue somwtimes...And Joan was drawn to his outragous spirit...that always kept her on her toes...
Next up, Pete Fitzpatrick...Pete was pretty darn young, when he first showed up to pick up my sister Karen...He had the long side-burns too...and he drove his father's luxurious Bonneville convertible...As sleek and smooth a car could ever be...Pete was from Saint Barnabas parish and he would haul off my sister Karen to his stomping grounds along Western Avenue like Jansen's, a fast food joint that was a mega-hang-out for teens back then...I always got a kick out of Pete because I think he tried to emulate a coolness of a 20 year old while only being 16 or 17...I remember Pete taking us to old Comiskey Park for a White Sox game early on...I had brought my new baseball glove, hoping to catch a foul ball...Well, we got up and found better seats closer to the field but left the glove behind...Pete went back and someone was sitting on my glove. He told the joker to get up and give me back my glove...It was pretty funny stuff...I wonder if the Sox won that game...???...All I can remember is the ridiculous clown sitting on my glove, pretending like there was nothing there...Pete always exuded a smooth charm along with a kenetic nervous energy that will always make him truly unique...It's no wonder Karen and Pete would become childhood sweethearts who never would lose their incredible attraction to one and other...as time would only tell...
There you have it...a little bit of insight into the humble begininngs of the romance and remnants of 5 young teenage boys who would set the world on fire...back in their time...For all these guys now, I know going back that far seems so long ago...yet, really they haven't lost that spark or enthususiasm one bit...I think it is the testament that their destinies have brought them way beyond their wild expectations...and the lives they live today...are a reflection of the immense pride they have in finding themselves to be so fortunate to meeting that special O'Leary girl who would join them on a miraculous journey...
All in all, I hope you got a kick out of looking back at the late 60's and the emergence of my brother-in-laws before they had become responsible, law-abiding, older adults who were an incredible force of energy to reckon with...at that point in time...in their middle to late teens...I know it is hard to imagine that, especially now as they all are now doting grandfathers, hovering around 60 years old...But, believe me, each of them...had the most fun, they could of possibly had at that young age...and me and my sisters were all very lucky to have them emerge as future long-life spouses and relatives...who would become very important parts of of all of our lives...In so many ways...my brothers-in-laws...are equally & uniquely special...and the good times we have had throughout the years have made a huge dent of fun memories for me also, and I'll always recall those moments of hijinx and humor with quite a bit of tremendous laughter...
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