I got a phone call this morning from my mom. She left a message saying "just calling to tell you that Uncle Phil died, the funeral is tomorrow. Your father and I will be in, it starts at 10 if you want to join us."
My Uncle Phil was old when I was young, and I get him confused with his brother Uncle Joe in my memory. They were my dad's uncles, the last of the Hughes men of the immigrant generation. They both co-owned a bar in the city which was called Hughes' when I was a kid and both of them were alive. When Uncle Joe died, the bar was renamed Phil Hughes'.
I have this memory of going there after the St. Patrick's Day Parade with the family and one of the uncles giving me chocolate coins and dollar bills. This is the clearest memory I have of either of the old uncles and I am not even entirely sure the memory can be trusted as fact.
The other memory I have of Uncle Phil is that he never had a plan on how he was getting home from family gatherings. At the end of the night it was always "Who is going through the city to give Phil a ride?"
3 comments:
And I wonder when someone is going to call to give me the news...
I just want to offer my condolences to your family. I have been going to your uncle's bar for the past 10 years -- it's the "official bar" of St. Joe's choir (some of us even sang at the funeral this morning). We like to relax at the bar with a drink or 2 after our weekly rehearsal. It's always felt like home to us. I hope that the name doesn't change, because your uncle was a very kind man.
You gotta love a choir that has an official bar! Thanks.
--Liz (Regina's sister)
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