Lead, follow or get out of the way.......

James Joseph Kelly was born on December 22, 1937 in Mineola Long Island to immigrant Irish parents. Shortly thereafter they moved to Willliamsburg Brooklyn where they resided thereafter. They were very poor. His father Thomas was a sanitation worker who was not paid very much money in those days. Unfortunately his parents suffered from the Irish curse and he had a very difficult childhood.

He had the kind of childhood you would see in a movie starring Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien. In fact the person he most reminded me was Jimmy Cagney. A tough no nonsense Irishman with a soft soul for people who needed his help. As a young child he had to step up to protect his sisters. One of them told us many stories of the things he used to do. He never spoke of it. He just did it.  That was who he was.



He went to work in Downtown Manhatttan  where he took a job as a courier for a steamship company. While working down there he met a beautiful Italian girl from Midwood Brooklyn the love of his life...his Annie. The started keeping company when he was 19 and she was 18 and have been together ever since. They saved to get married and finally were able to do it when he was finally accepted to the Fire Department so he could have a steady Civil Service Job.

It was Sophia Loren marrying Jimmy Cagney. They were devoted to each other until the day he died. As he suffered in pain and despair he would call out "Annie...Annie...Annie" and she would always be there. To comfort him. To care for him. To protect him. To love him.

It is one of the greatest love stories I have ever seen.

Not one that you would see in a Hollywood Golden Globes Harvey Weinstein production. Just one that millions of ordinary people live every day.

It humbles me.