Mr. Flatley

Mr. Flatley
Philadelphia, PA
1919-2006

The Flatleys lived down the street from us.  In addition to the parents, there were 10 kids.  And our families were intermingled with each other.  My parents were very good friends with Mr. and Mrs. Flately.  My siblings and I were friends with their children.  As a matter of fact, Kathy and I went to grade school, high school and college together.  We were college roommates.  I was in Kathy's wedding and we have mourned together as we said goodbye to our parents and siblings.

Mr. Flatley was very unusual.  He never seemed to get angry about anything.  Nothing seemed to ruffle his feathers.  He could go with the flow and then be oblivious to the aggravations of the moments.

• He built a skiing rink in the back yard during the winter. The whole neighborhood came over to skate.
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• He once held a contest to see who could throw the ball the highest. When the ball went off course and went through a garage window, he just shrugged that off and said, "Well, we will have to get that fixed.  Don't tell Mother what we were doing." And the contest continued.
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• He cleared out the master bedroom once and invited his friends over for an evening of ballroom dancing. All the adults came dressed in formal wear.
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• They would go camping as a family and somehow, got everyone in the station wagon (up to 12 people) and strapped everything to the top.  It looked as if that car was never going to make it to the end of the block.
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• He was 87and at my house for a party.  One friend brought her 12 year old step daughter who tried to make herself invisible all night.  Sensing her discomfort, I left her alone and let her be invisible.  Mr. Flatley went right up to her and sat down and asked, "May I have the pleasure of your acquaintance?" They talked to each other for the rest of the evening.
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• My most memorable moment with him was in my horrible college apartment living room.  He just drove 4 hours to see us and he was tired.  He found a spot on our lumpy, trash-picked couch and made himself comfortable. "Never stand when you can sit, never sit when you can lay down", he told me as he closed his eyes and took a nap.

I wish I could be this content with life.