Ted’s And Pat’s Birthday-On The Fourth Of July Poem by Joe Rosochacki

My dad and sister had the same birth date.
Ted was youngest of three brothers,
Pat was the second oldest of five.
The family would celebrate their birthdays,
With fireworks, and cook outs, and many adult beverages.
They were special people.
Ted repaired PBY-5a planes in the Pacific theatre in WWII.
Pat was radical who attended the Democratic National Convention.
Ted liked bowling, golfing, and the Q of A choir picnics at Camp Dearborn,
Pat liked anything to do with counter-culture movement.
Pat did not finish college; she had ‘incompletes’ on her courses.
Pat was a reader not like me,
She had books galore in boxes and bookcases in her personal library.
We often went to the fireworks on the Detroit River in between Windsor and Detroit.
Bob, my brother, with Walter Czubata (?) ,
-were into making M-60’s a occasionally an M-80 an M-120 or an M-140,
Our dad, Ted, would not him blow it up intentionally.
Later on the pyrotechnics would take on a different approach, for Bob’s brother-in-law, Joe Candido had a cannon fetish,
- black powder, a plug and a lighter were all that was needed.
They, Ted and Pat, are both deceased now,
Later Mom joined them-the occasion was sad.
-somehow the 4th of July will never be the same.
I bought a flag to remember our country’s birthday at Commerce Hardware.
I bought to say Happy Birthday to our sister Pat and our Dad.

7-4-09