Merle Hendricks Riley Jr.aka "Timer"
Now we can finally celebrate an important day,
I'm so done with Valentines' Day!!!
Now we can finally celebrate an important day,
St Patricks' Day.
In Honor of my Irish heritage (yes, I am Irish!) I want to pay tribute to my Great Grandfather, James McGuiness O'Riley. That is truly his name and he was born in Dingle, Ireland. He traveled to America in the late 1800's as an indentured servant and landed in Astoria, Oregon. He paid for his passage to America by working as a Chemist, today known as a Pharmacist. Legend has it he traveled from Astoria to Ashland, Oregon after completing his seven years of servitude. There he met and married a Native American woman of the Nez Perce Nation named Lydia (which makes me a volitile combination of Irish/Indian). As my father relates the story to me, James and Lydia left Oregon approximately 1898 with the family and traveled by foot to California with my grandfather, Merle Hendricks, riding a pinto pony given to them by Lydia's family. They settled in the San Francisco Bay area, which is where my father, Merle Hendricks, Jr. was born. I always loved to hear this story when I was young, and I think my father had a little bit of the 'blarney' in him. So, to my father, grandfather and great-grandfather, I'll lift a pint of Guiness (or Smithwicks) and say, "slainte" (cheers in Gaelic).
Everyone should be Irish for a day!!!
In Honor of my Irish heritage (yes, I am Irish!) I want to pay tribute to my Great Grandfather, James McGuiness O'Riley. That is truly his name and he was born in Dingle, Ireland. He traveled to America in the late 1800's as an indentured servant and landed in Astoria, Oregon. He paid for his passage to America by working as a Chemist, today known as a Pharmacist. Legend has it he traveled from Astoria to Ashland, Oregon after completing his seven years of servitude. There he met and married a Native American woman of the Nez Perce Nation named Lydia (which makes me a volitile combination of Irish/Indian). As my father relates the story to me, James and Lydia left Oregon approximately 1898 with the family and traveled by foot to California with my grandfather, Merle Hendricks, riding a pinto pony given to them by Lydia's family. They settled in the San Francisco Bay area, which is where my father, Merle Hendricks, Jr. was born. I always loved to hear this story when I was young, and I think my father had a little bit of the 'blarney' in him. So, to my father, grandfather and great-grandfather, I'll lift a pint of Guiness (or Smithwicks) and say, "slainte" (cheers in Gaelic).
Everyone should be Irish for a day!!!
1 comment:
Cheers - Ching Ching
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