I wanted to share some of my memories of my Dad with you, some of these thoughts were mentioned the day of his service in the eulogy that I read: My memories of Ed are a little different than Kathy and Kevin’s yes he had no qualms telling me I was not an accident but a mistake…I always told him best darn mistake he ever made My nickname….Murph hit the surf Johnny Ray...Cry Running in the living room to the Theme song for Rocky…for hours at a time Rope-e-dope...I can still hear the screech of the wheels on that thing. Dancing with Jane Higgins at the Bridgeway to Wipe Out Rum & Coke’s....yes Joe 4 thousand count and a splash of coke for color The Duchess and I don’t mean Rose...again it's a Humarock thing. He liked nothing better than to pay for Rose’s illegal clamming tickets!! The last time he said next time she could stay in jail! Beach Talk…it’s a Humarock thing…. You wouldn’t understand Texas Accent…only when he talked to Uncle Bob or about Uncle Bob…. I think he really thought he had a natural one. Irish Accent…only when he talked about his trip there…again, I think he really thought he had an original brogue A fairly laid back kind of guy…unless you were talking sports, money or his grandchildren…than he had an opinion about it, and there was no other way but his. Leaving my softball playoff game early because we were losing….was surprised when I got home and said we won!!! Throwing off his oxygen mask at Jamie’s All-Star game and stumping around about as he called…”The Worst Call Ever” mind you it was a 100 degrees and he couldn’t normally walk 5 ft without being out of breath!. Rose having to get the racing form at Ted’s Spa at 5:00am every day for him (she really did do a lot for him) Mr. Jennings at our house every Sat morning pouring over the racing forms for hours OTB…sorry Rose spent a lot of time there with him and Mr. Jennings there! My Brother’s Place every single stinkin Sat & Sun morning when I was 15….just so I could drive the car. He had the patience of a saint…..56 years with Rose…I won’t say anymore Of course until the last few years when there was a bit of a roll reversal and he became one really ornery old man. UConn….but he was your typical fan…couldn’t watch a game with him in the same room, would drive you nuts! Taking him to UConn games and having to get there hours before the game so that he could watch warmups…not that you could see much where we sat but that was the what he liked to do. That UConn game against Pitt, when he nearly fell out of his seat doing the wave at the Civic Center. And yes he was a Ref Boo’er He loved kids…he had a lot of patience…you could be the worst kid in the world but you were okay with him as long as you had manners. He turned out to be a baby hog…loved to hold the babies. When Jamie was born, he elbowed both Grandma’s out of the way to hold her! When Rose said what are you doing…. He responded I’m going to hold my granddaughter…move He did love all the kids in my neighborhood, was always interested in what they were doing and he thought he actually got a say in it too. Homework…boy did he love to do homework. Report Card Day….and yes the man went to school because I got a D in band, well he wouldn’t let me quit, so I stopped going Ed was a perpetual planner…had a 10 year plan for everything that he did. Now I’m a CPA but he never let me do his tax return… he would say it was a little complicated!!! He hated Dr’s and hospitals and he made sure they all knew it. When you asked him how is was feeling, it didn’t matter how he really felt…He would always answer the same… I feel wonderful! Proudest accomplishment…making sure that all 3 of us received our college diploma’s…there really wasn’t much of choice about this in our house. The routines….he had one for about everything that he did…and don’t think about trying to rush him. The one routine he taught my son and one I will never forget because he used to do it with me…..Goodnight Mr. Calabash….wherever you are! He would absolutely hate all this fuss about him. He was very clear he did not want that, he always said have a great big all party, share some laughs and good stories and have a toast his life because for all his issues, he knew he lead a good one and he never regretted a day, every one was a bonus for him., and that is the way he lived his life! Please join us at John J Sullivan’s for a toast to Ed, he truly was the best husband, father, grandfather and friend we could have ever asked for.