Nephew---Eddie Haggerty....

Oh yes, gather yourself up, for the way-back machine, and zoom back 40 years ago, to the birth of my great little nephew, Eddie...Eddie Haggerty...He got his little intro to this world, back on July 2nd, 1969...and he never looked back...

I can remember Eddie, being quite a young, 6-month-old, toddler, at his Mom & Dad's(my dear sister, Kathy & Ed's) funky Marquette Park apartment...There, he defied the odds, by lifting himself up, off the ground and doing his little baby steps, by grabbing ahold to all of the furniture, to stabililize himself, as he did a complete circle around the entire room...His Father declared Eddie, a genius, and at that point we were expecting Eddie to grow up and be a Rhodes Scholar or an Astronaut.

Eddie, even way back then, had a bright, bright, happy smile and an equally bright and happy disposition. His thick & wavy blonde hair, big eyes and big, big, rosie cheeks...made him one of the healthiest looking babies around...

The following year, Eddie, was followed by his brother Mike, and then quicky Pat, jumped onto the Haggerty Wrestling team...and from there...the hijinx and madness...never ended...

I do wish I could just focus on Eddie, but the whole crazy crew of Eddie, Mike and Pat...were inseperable, and they just about ran all of us into the ground, with their boundless energy.

How boundless...???...Young Eddie, was up before the sun rised every day...Eddie was up before the moon disappeared...before the cows even yawned in the muddling dusk...even...

Boooom...!!!...

Eddie Haggerty, was up, bright-eyed, and bushied tailed, waking up his cohorts, Mike & Pat, demanding the day to get off to a wild, walloping start...Oh gosh, sometimes, we'd be all up at the Lake House, and sure enough, you'd hear this thunderous roar of tiny footsteps, bounding down the stairs, from the bedroom, into the kitchen, at 5:30am...where their Mom, Kathy, had to whiz up some Captain Crunch with Blueberries or Cocoa Puffs or Fruit Loops for her young hungry, urchins....in nothing flat...Kathy truly was a living saint, with this wild bunch keeping her buzzing, going completely bonkers, doing an endless mad scramble, trying to make things roll as smoothly as possible...

I'd finally roll out of bed at 10AM...and go downstairs, and I was met, with the powerhouse, Haggerty tag team, attacking me, ready to roughhouse, right out of the box, piling on top of me, or just throwing themselves at me, so I'd have to pick them up, off the ground, and throw them onto the blue, living room, couch, crashing, one at a time...on top of each other...

Me and the young Haggerty's had such a blast...because they were truly, non-stop, wild boys, just bursting with their trademark energy...with usually Eddie...plowing straight ahead, with a great big smile...

How crazy were these 3 boys...???...Eddie & Mike & Pat...

It was not unusual for me to show up at their house, over on 79th & Artesian, in Tommy More, and find the entire refrigerator, completely, torn apart...Mike, throwing pickles around like little mini green frisbees and Pat, using yellow mustard to paint some Picasso creations on the wall...

Where was Eddie...???...Eddie, was there, wandering around, chomping on a stick of butter, like it was a Snickers chocolate candy bar...Yes, butter...and yes, just not one stick of butter, but the whole damn carton of 4 butters, were clearly on Eddie's snack menu, that day...

MMMMmmm buttterrrrr.....!!!!!!....

This next story, is the truth, I cannot tell a lie...just like George Washington...We were up in Lake Geneva, middle of summer, the Haggerty boys about 8, 7 and 5 years old at that time...and they grabbed ahold of these croquet mallets, and began bashing away at our giant lilac tree in our backyard...

Now you are thinking...Croquet mallets...They are not a good choice to try to cut down a tree, because they are flat and dull, wooden hammers...but these 3 lumberjacks, were not buying that philosophy as they whacked away at that beautiful lilac tree, until they broke thru the bark, and then got excited and bashed away until they heard a SNAP....and there the lilac tree...took a tumble...timmmbbbbberrrrr....to the ground...

Gramma came running out...mortified, her beautiful tree that smelled so beautiful was a casualty of war...but I personally was glad, because that Lilac tree, always attracted bees with its pungent flowery smell...and its location was right next to the hitter's box for our special whiffle ball games in the backyard...You could always see all of us kids, swinging our bat, hoping to smack a bee in mid air.

(....batter up.....bbbbbzzzzzzz.....!!!....get away from me...you stupid, stupid bees....!!!...bbbbbzzzzz....!!!...Smmmaaccckk...!!!...)

Oh there's more...I can recall, Eddie, just getting a crazy notion to tear out all my tomato plants along side the Lake House...Ripppp...Ripppp....Ripppp...Ripppp...Ohhh, how I loved those tomato plants because I'd soak those suckers everyday with lots of water & Miracle Grow...

uuuhhhh ohhhh....One by one, the large bountiful plants came up, roots and all...but Eddie, didn't realize I was coming barreling down, in a psychotic rage towards him at warp speed, ready to unleash a beating, like no other.

There Eddie stood, smiling, quite amused, then his amusement turned to horror...

...HOLY CRAP...!!!...IT'S UNCLE JIM...!!!...

BOOM...Eddie takes off screaming & screaming & screaming for dear life and I'm like Dick Butkus, ready to pummel him into the ground...but honestly...You really couldn't hurt Eddie, cuz' he was rock solid muscle...Needless, to say, Eddie and all the Haggerty's were great, great fun. We had such hilarious riotous times, doing crazy things...

I gotta stop there with the crazy Haggerty stories...and save some...for Mike and Pat...

Eddie...today...believe it or not, is an outward, gregariously fun guy, a Precinct Captain for the Saint Cajetan's area on the South Side...He was just elected to be on the board for the highly prestigious South-Side Irish Parade wearing a super special, green blazer...when he was inducted last week...The huge Irish parade, of hundreds of thousands of people, itself, runs every March, down Western Avenue, only 4 blocks away from his house, where he lives with his wonderful wife, Megan and their 3 adorable rug-rats...Meara, Phelan & the mighty, might, Griffin...who reminds me exactly of Eddie so much...

Eddie is the biggest White Sox fan and me and him, can be found bidding on White Sox stuff on E-Bay all the time...He throws that huge Saint Paddy's Day party every year, for one and all, before the parade, where the cold & frothy Guinness & stinging Jameson Irish Whiskey are flowing at 6am, that day...

By the way...I have this cool 2005 photo of Eddie, shaking hands with Mayor Daley, while he's got his White Sox cap on...at some lakefront ceremony...only a few days before the Sox won the World Series...

And in that photo, it shows that both Eddie & Mayor Daley, are on cloud nine, brimming with delightful smiles, drinking in the wild excitement of World Series action, we all had never seen before...on the South-Side...

Anyway, Eddie is now an Electrician these days, in charge of the lighting for the city that runs along the Chicago lakefront and can be found, digging thru the mess of electrical wires inside Buckingham Fountain, quite often, making sure, it remains a jewel of the city...for all the visitors...to stop by...and take their picture, there...

Oh yeah...Don't be surprised, if you are listening on the radio...and hear...Eddie Haggerty, you were our 12th caller and have won tickets for a weekend getaway to a water park or tickets to a movie...Eddie just loves that kinda stuff. He just has a knack for winning silly stuff over the radio...Surely, me & Eddie, are truly crazy and think we gotta shot...every single time,,,

Eddie Haggerty, South-Sider, Family Man & Sox Fan...and also just one of my many, many kooky little nieces & nephews who grew up, alongside me...so long ago...Well, we won't say when...will we...???...