Happy 25th Wedding Anniversary, Mom and Dad!!!

There is a great scene at the beginning of Waking Ned Devine, a movie about a village in Ireland that comes together to fool the Lotto man into letting them claim the winnings. Jackie O’Shea and his wife Annie are watching the lotto drawing. Annie is in the kitchen eating a slice of apple tart, and Jackie is in the living room asking Annie if she’ll bring him a piece. She says no and tells him that if he wants it he’ll get up and get it himself. Suddenly Jackie starts shouting at Annie that he’s got the numbers. ‘Annie bring me my tart, would ya? We have the first four numbers!’ Annie, gob-smacked, comes out of the kitchen with tart in hand, and the two stare at the television. When the last number is read, Jackie starts shouting, ‘Yes! Yes! Yes!’ but rips up the ticket and takes a big bite of apple tart. ‘Have we won?’ says Annie, still in shock. ‘No,’ says Jackie, ‘But it got me apple tart brought to me, now didn’t it?’

This scene always reminds me of my parents. Take this past Mother’s Day for example. The morning was a bit rushed since Mom, Dad, and I were getting ready to go up to UConn for Orlaith’s graduation. Orlaith and I planned on giving Mom her present later that day, so I waited to give her my card, too. I’m not sure if she noticed that I did this or not, but she spent the morning doing stuff in the house and going to Stop and Shop for last-minute groceries (and probably milk. We always need milk no matter what the errand is). When she walked in the door, Dad (who had conspicuously failed to leave her card at her spot at the table like he usually does) was just finished making the tea, when he said, ‘Did you get your card when you were out?’

‘What card?’ she says.
‘You’re Mother’s Day card,’ he answered.

I didn’t know what to do or where to look. I thought Mom was going to be mad. Turns out Dad still knows her better than I do because she just laughed and said something like, ‘No, all the good ones were gone.’

Mom and Dad met in a pub in Lourdes, France; two young lovebirds who had a date with kismet. They were there to do God’s work through the Knights of Malta, and God knows the spirits were flowing. She, the petite beauty with the quick tongue from the center of Ireland, arrived at the pub with the mutual friend (call him Yabba) to meet ‘a real character.’ He, the handsome blue-eyed joker from the Northwest, was holding court when the other two arrived. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a good moment for the two to meet, but she had seen enough to venture with Yabba to his hotel the next day for a proper introduction. Little did they know that the Joker was waiting at his hotel window with a bucket full of water. He poured it at what he thought was the right time in an attempt to get Yabba, but he missed entirely and soaked the Beauty.

And so begins the story of my parents, Anne (née Marsh) and Paddy Cunningham. They started dating officially soon after this incident (who wouldn’t?), broke up a couple of times (duh – what love story doesn’t have some good break-ups?), and eventually got engaged. A unique thing about their courtship was that for much of it, my dad was studying in England. They wrote each other letters (Real letters, not email; he to his ‘Dearest Annie’ and she to her ‘Darling Paddy.’ Mom, don’t freak out. I didn’t read the letters in the basement. You told me that on a drive to UConn one day), and talked on the phone when they could, though it was rare. When my dad asked my grandfather (also a real character) if he could marry my mom, my grandfather said, ‘You can of course, if you can live with her,’ both knowing full-well that my mom and my grandmother were in the kitchen laughing at the two of them.

Mom and Dad were married 25 years ago today, June 25th, and they’re still going strong. She still has her quick tongue and he’s still a joker. I called the house on Valentine’s Day this year on my way into Manhattan. Mom answered the phone, and I could hear in the background, ‘Who’s that calling the house on Valentine’s Day?’

‘It’s you’re eldest child,’ my mother said.
‘Doesn’t she know we’re watching Jeopardy?’ Dad said.
‘Watching Jeopardy?’ I asked. ‘Is that what the kids are calling it these days?’
‘Ha. Joke’s on you, Niamh,’ Mom said. ‘We really are watching Jeopardy and you’re father’s after missing final Jeopardy. You know how much he loves getting the answer to that one.’
Dad, unwilling to let the joke drop, said, ‘Would you tell her to leave us alone and call back in about 15 minutes?’

So here’s to you Mom and Dad! Congratulations on 25 years of love, fun, and adventure, and here’s to many, many more!