One Traveler

My godfather, John Dowling, died on this day in 1973. He had been one of my father’s best friends at school; his wife, Aunt Margot, had been an old Hall family friend from home. My parents introduced them.

John and Margot had no children, but did have about fourteen years of loving marriage together. John died accidentally. He was in his mid-forties. He loved life!

Uncle John figures prominently in some of my earliest recollections. I have fleeting memories from late infancy and early boyhood: get-togethers in various Manhattan apartments, a group of men in horn-rimmed glasses, jackets and ties, on the sofa, smoking cigarettes, being hugely entertained by my verbal precocity—a trait that, naturally, all of them shared.

My dear Uncle Tom Harris was in that group as well, and others. I can only dimly recall their wives—my courtesy aunts—but they were also (mostly) smoking and probably rolling their eyes at their mates, while being deeply pleased with them.

John was exceptionally gifted, involved in education and writing. I can remember my parents getting the news of his sudden death; my father’s deep shock, my mother’s reference to the Immaculate Conception, celebrated the day previous.

After college, I stayed with Aunt Margot in Amagansett for several months while getting established at my first professional job. Margot died in 2006. To the end of her life, I called her on this date.

So, God rest Uncle John’s soul.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2009 at 3:40 pm and is filed under Genealogy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.