Eulogy

My father’s looking down right now, seeing all his favorite people together in one room saying, “How great is this!”

When my mother and I arrived at the hospital on Thursday morning, we stood by his bedside and the nurse asked us to tell her about him. My mother held his hand and said, “He was a cynical bastard – that everybody loved!” I can’t thank everyone enough for everything they have done for me and my family over the past few days. I have received words of advice from all the people whose lives he touched.

I’d like to share with you a few words from a letter I received from his Brother Mike:

“Your father was one of the greatest gifts God ever put on this earth. He made so many people feel good with his warm smile, big handshake, and constant laughter. You just had to meet him and you knew you wanted to be his friend.”

And from his great friend Gene McCarthy:

“The Lakers were the best NBA team of all-time. The N.Y. Giants were the only team worth rooting for in football. The Yankees, well, HOW ABOUT THOSE YANKS? Jerry West was the best player ever in the NBA. Pete Maravich was the best college player ever. Bruce Springsteen rocks. Fals sucks at golf. Jelly, for someone who plays that much sucks too. Volkswagens were great cars. Stonehill is the best college in the country! Brian Daly was the best school boy basketball player ever! So much more, but you get the picture. All of these things must be true because your Dad said so. I’m convinced!

Our society bases wealth on how much “stuff” we have when we die. We both know how silly that really is. One’s life is based on how a person is missed once they are gone. Also, the effect their lives had on everyone before and after. I can honestly say that Steve Quinn was the richest man in the world! Quinnie will continue to live in each and every one of us. He was always, either doing all the talking or being talked about. The mention of his name was often the ice breaker in many situations. There will never be another quite like him, and that’s okay.”

My father saw something beautiful in everyone but the one person who he saw the most beauty of all in, was my mother. He was madly in love with her. She won his heart over when they were 16; I think the lining of his locker with peanut butter was the clincher. He thought she was the funniest thing he had ever seen. We would be at a party and he’d say, “Kathleen, tell them that story!” Then he’d stand back and lean over to me and say,”There she goes.” That red face of his glowed, as he just stared at my mother in amazement. My father couldn’t have breathed without waking up next to my mother every morning. The two of them were simply perfect together. Truly, a love affair to remember.

There was one person, however, who gave my mother a run for her money once and awhile, and that was Fals, or as I like to say Fallzypoo. My mother always said he had relationships with his friends the way girls form friendships. He had a relationship with every person in this room. Probably the most remarkable thing about my father was that he said whatever was on his mind, and he got away with it. He never held anything back and people just fell in love with him. I just want all of you to know that my father loved everything about his life. From the Jets games in Fal’s den, followed by sealow lessons from Danny, family parties around Uncle Pat’s island and Aunt Adi’s dining room, basketball games with Mr. Vic in the OLV gym, the Willman household, Stonehill and Red’s house, Sunday gatherings at Uncle Billy’s bar, and the four hour conversations at the kitchen table with me and my mother.

When I told everyone I was saying the Eulogy, I was told that the word modesty could not be used. Needless to say my father was a very good looking man, and he let you know that. I would walk by him in the bathroom as he looked in the mirror, he would turn to me and say, “Man, I am one good looking guy.” For my parent’s senior prom, my mom asked him to wear a pink shirt to match her taffeta dress and he said, “Nah, I look good in yellow.” Then when she walked down the stairs in her dress, he looked at her and said, “Don’t I look good.” I guess some things never change because when I walked down the stairs on the day of my senior prom he said, “Ya know Kate, you might be better looking than me.”

He passed that confidence down to me and my mother. There wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t tell us how beautiful we are. We were his girls and he let us know that every single day. He was so proud of his family, John the Cop, Brother Mike, and his Adi-Baby. He adored the three of you so much and would have done anything in the world for you. As for those McNally’s, he always said he was so lucky to marry into such a wonderful family. His only baby was me, but he had thousands of kids. He loved when all of you were in our house. He loved my mother’s hospitality and wanted everyone to feel at home in his castle.

My father was my best friend. We never crossed words, not once. I know there is so much of him in me and that’s why I’m gonna make it, why we’re all gonna make it. Right now, in the words of Kaitlyn O’Leary, he would say to my mother and me, “don’t cower girls.”

The last night I saw him; I ran into the room and said, “Dad! I just got a new haircut, do you like it?” He put his arm around me, kissed my forehead and said, “I love everything about you my Kaitlyn Mary.” Well Dad, now you know, everyone loved everything about you.

So here’s 16 kisses and I love you the most in the whole wide world – more than that.