Dear Great Grandpa Cassidy

Dear Great Grandpa Cassidy

I know we have never met, but your stories have enthralled me.  I was told that I would love to have talked to you.  You saw from the beginning of electricity to the atomic bomb.  Yet your life was filled with disappointment and loss.  I know your childhood had the loss of your mother and an absent father. You lost part of the fingertip in the farm equipment, but you were never bitter.  I find that riding the rails as a hobo was lonely, but so was your life before that.  Eventually, you saw worse in the destruction of the San Francisco earthquake and trying to find survival in all the wreckage.

 You also served in World War I as a message carrier.  That war was heinous with the fighting and the mustard gas with so many dead and the ones who were shell shocked.  You survived without shooting your gun due to not cleaning the anti-rust gunk left in it.  You ran through the fields of France and survived, even after not waking up after half the roof of a barn being blown off and walking away with a positive attitude.

 You came home in one piece and returned to your hometown of Chicago, where you met Great Grandma.  She was a bitter woman, but only you could love her.  I would not be here if not for my Grandma being born.  You stayed in a positive and hopeful way through it all.  You became a trolly driver in The Great Depression.  You did not have much but remained at the job for the days to survive.  Your love for those around you kept your family and the time from being so dismal. Even just lowering your hearing aids when Great Grandma would hassle you, you were still loving towards her when you were older.  Yet you raised your children properly and saw them get married. My Grandma chose a man just like you based on your excellent example. You showed your children the love and example of what a man was to be.

Even seeing your sibling, who you had never watched, was terrific.  Your life was about forgiveness and making lemonade out of lemons.  You left a legacy of how to live a positive life when so many things went wrong.  You are a funny man who never let anything drag you down.  You walked through loss and abandonment in your early life.  Riding those rails still must have been an adventure, and seeing the country would have been amazing.  You saw the famous earthquake that can be seen in photographs today.  Your sense of going on and not letting life get you down was admirable.   Surviving World War I and not coming back with little to no PTSD after knowing the experiences of those who did.  You settled down with Great Grandma and loved her despite all the gripes she vocalized.  Everyone in your family loved you and spoke of your soft, genuine nature.   

I only wish I could handle my own situations with your grace.  I want to walk through life with no anger toward others who have hurt me.  To move on and go on in life despite all that has happened.  I do not know how you kept your positive attitude even in the worst circumstances.  You were always known as Happy Harry; no one would know everything you experienced.  I wish to be a survivor who keeps on going and not letting the past drag me down.  To be successful and give everything to my family.  You did nothing extraordinary but your free spirit to explore and survive even war. I wish you had written down your life, but I could not make that request.  I think so many can learn from your example to weather the storms of life.  After living through such a changing time in history, your opinions would be interesting to hear.  I try to live my life and keep moving on despite the circumstances.   I only wished I knew you, but you passed before I was born.  I will gladly tell your stories and enjoy the life of a man who rose from tragedy to show how to be a survivor instead of a victim.