By

Andrew DeMarco

Photo by: Vanassa Fata Kraut

About 10 years ago, I wrote a Rosy Glow for the Christmas Holidays about how the family grows and how it is both a good thing and yet in some ways a bad. It is a good thing in that the family is getting larger and that traditions will continue.  The bad thing is that the relationships we might have had with cousins when we were younger are different as their priorities change with their own families.  The link to that Glow is below:

Rosy Glow – Holidays and Family

This became quite apparent a few weekends back when the family got together for what was a very different kind of reunion. My Cousin Robert, who passed away in 2009, his daughters were coming in from Arizona to visit his sister, their Aunt Patricia, who thought it would be a good way to get the family together. Now you have to understand Robert was about 7 years older than I am and he moved from New York to Oklahoma and then to Arizona. During that time and as his family grew, I would see less and less of him let alone see his children. As a matter of fact, of his three daughters the only one I ever saw was his eldest daughter Vanessa, (sorry Vanessa), who was all of about 3 years old at the time. But as always, I digress. When I finally got to meet Vanessa, Gina and Emily, I was not really surprised that these beautiful women had the same warmth and personality as their father and were eager to learn about me and my wife as I was to learn about them, after all it was in their blood and we are family.

But in addition to meeting and spending time with Robert’s 3 children, that day provided me the additional bonus of catching up with my Cousin Pat’s children, Michael and his wife Jill, and Jessica and her husband Jason as well as their children. I also got to spend time with my Cousin Diana’s son Chris and his wife Nicole who is expecting which is further proof that the family continues to grow. (Good Luck Nicole and Chris.)

The day itself reminded me of the gatherings that we older cousins shared when we were younger. Plenty of good food and drink and a lot of love and appreciation for one another. The only thing missing were Cousins Robert, Laura and Louis but be assured that they were with us and always will be.

Finally, after meeting three great women and seeing the next generations, I realized that although the DNA strands may be a little frayed and the blood may be a bit thinner one thing was certain it is the same DNA and blood that is in each one of us who was there and that we are family and traditions will continue and new traditions will be established as the family will continue to grow and get stronger and better. This gives me that feeling that Cousin Bob would call that…..Rosy Glow!

By

Andrew DeMarco

Last weekend, I took part in my 50^th reunion of the Class of 1972 from Cardinal Hayes High School. The festivities began on Friday when a group of us recreated part of our daily commute and met at 125^th Street and took the #4 Train uptown to 149^th St. and the Grand Concourse. From there we made the walk up to Hayes or as some of us called it “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” affectionately named after Fr. Thomas McCormack who was the Dean of Discipline. During that brief walk, we all were amazed how that section of the Grand Concourse had changed that is everything except the Post Office. Once at Hayes, we attended a Mass then had Brunch and a tour of the school. The school had changed quite a bit, yet to us it really hadn’t changed at all.  We all did a lot of reminiscing and told many war stories but what I found truly amazing is that it was like we all had seen one another just the other day.  

The following day we met at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the commencement ceremonies for the Class of 2022. After the Class was seated, the Alumni from ’52, ’62,’72 and ’97 were introduced. The warm reception and thunderous ovation we received as we walked down that center aisle from the students, parents and friends filled us all with great pride and brought a smile to all our faces. After the commencement, we gathered at Rosy O’Grady’s where the stories stared flying all over again. The tales told made all the years just melt away and it was like those 50 years had never happened. But just like that, in an instant, our time together was over, and we all agreed to get together again for the golf outing in September.

It was on the train ride home with my wife and after talking about the great time I had all weekend, I had a flash back. I flashed back to about 10 years after graduation. I along with many of my classmates received word that one our own, Marty O’Hanlon, had passed away while on a business trip. This hit us all very hard since he was probably the first in our class to leave us. What I do remember was that at his wake, Hayes was fully represented. I also remember while offering my condolences to Marty’s mom, Mrs. O’Hanlon, who was a very strong woman just having lost her son and her husband just a few years earlier, put her arm around me and began pointing around the room at all the Hayesmen that were there. She said, “Andy look around do you see all these guys from school here, these are your friends and always will be. You may not see them every day, some you might see once in awhile, some you will see years from now and some you may never see again, but remember they are your friends.”  She went on to say, “Those friendships you made at Hayes will be some of the strongest and best friendships you will ever have.” Well Mrs. O’Hanlon all I can say is that you were prophetic.

I don’t know what it is but I guess it is a testament to the discipline, education and sense of family that was instilled in us at Cardinal Hayes, that those friendships have endured and time cannot ever take them away. So to all my fellow classmates it was great seeing you all again and know that our time together as brief as it was has only steeled my resolve to stay in better touch with all of you and that has filled me with that feeling that Cousin Bob would call that….Rosy Glow!

Up Hayes!

P.S. I would like to thank the administration and faculty of Hayes along with the alumni who worked on this event for making our Golden Jubilee a memorable one.