I miss watching the spectacular fireworks display at Eddie G’s house every Fourth of July.
Eddie G. was my grandmother’s longtime companion. For the last 20 years of her life, Eddie treated her like gold.
She’d had a hard life, after all. Widowed in her late 40s way back in 1955, she struggled for years to pay the bills — she struggled to tend to six children.
After she successfully completed that difficult task Providence intervened.
Always a regular churchgoer, she had caught the eye of Eddie, a colorful old bachelor.
Eddie and his brother ran a successful office-cleaning business, started years before by their immigrant father.
They had hundreds of employees who maintained the interiors and exteriors of Pittsburgh’s biggest high-rise buildings.
Though Eddie’s brother married and raised a family, Eddie was never blessed that way. Many years went by and Eddie was still alone — until he met my grandmother.
The two hit it off instantly and were soon inseparable. They went to Mass together every day. Eddie took her to Pittsburgh’s finest restaurants every night. Eddie was a staple at every Purcell family event.
Eddie made the last 20 years of her life her best years — and made our Fourth of July celebrations wonderful, too.
There was no better place on Earth to celebrate the nation’s birthday — thanks to Eddie’s dad.
You see, Eddie’s dad had been born in Hungary. He came to America as a young man seeking a better life. He took the first job he could get — janitor.
Where others viewed mopping and cleaning as demeaning work, Eddie’s father saw a future.
He started his own cleaning business. He began by cleaning small commercial buildings and kept moving his way up.
His company was soon maintaining larger buildings. He soon had the means to send his sons to college — to develop their business skills to help him keep growing the business.
He built himself a nice stone home in the suburbs — the home in which Eddie G. would live the rest of his life.
His home bordered a park that featured a magnificent fireworks display every Fourth. Eddie’s backyard offered a perfect view.
Eddie set out tables and chairs. He made refreshments and food. Just before dusk, my grandmother’s children, grandchildren, their spouses and others would arrive.
As the adults laughed and caught up with each other, the children danced around the yard, giggling as their sparklers burned bright.
Soon, the sky would fall black and the fireworks would begin.
As we “oohed” and “aahed” — as the sky exploded into bright colors — Eddie would be next to my grandmother, as contented as a man can be.
Eddie threw his last Fourth of July party in 1993, five years after my grandmother died. He died the following winter.
Our sadness at the loss of both hit hardest the next Fourth of July when we could no longer gather at Eddie’s to celebrate.
But this story is still one of joy.
That’s because the story of Eddie and his father is an American story. Through hard work, Eddie’s dad turned a mundane job into an incredible life for his family.
Eddie and his brother took his dream to the next level and grew the company into a multi-million dollar business.
Eddie had the means to treat my grandmother like royalty in the last 20 years of her life — and give my large extended family many wonderful Fourth of July memories we will cherish forever.
Copyright 2024 Tom Purcell, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
