The Bostonian Abroad

After many years of thinking about getting a tattoo and after many ideas coming and going, I finally made the leap and got a tattoo. Originally, I wanted a Red Sox tattoo, until my wife at the time pointed out that it would be akin to getting a Coke tattoo. So that idea was out. I also wanted a Harley tattoo, but it would have been even more like Coke, so that was out. I thought about getting a combination tattoo that had elements of different things I love, but that fizzled. Then came my broken leg and the scars that came with it. I figured that I could get a tattoo on my leg since it was already messed up. So I thought and thought about what to put. . . And then I got the idea to get a heritage tattoo. So my tatto is a combination of ideas: 1. Tribute to my Irish heritage. 2. Tribute to my Father. 3. Interpretation of my name. 4. Superstition. 5. Reminiscent of my scarring. 6. Reminder of my accident and fragility. 7. Evocative of my profession (i.e., linguistics becau

My sister says that my father's spirit regularly does things to let her know he is there. He turns on the TV, changes the channels, and even starts the washing machine. My sister Sue apparently also experienced a sink suddenly coming on. I have seen peripheral things, but nothing directly. The night before my Dad died, I saw the angel in the room. It appeared to my right and when I turned to see who had entered, it was gone. It was pretty startling. My Dad died the next day. So I often wonder why my TV has not acted weird or why my washing machine doesn't come on by itself. I think maybe he shoved me off my motorcycle in 2010. I have no real proof, but I feel like he did. So why nothing else at my house??? Perhaps it is because I am anti bully and I see a ghost in my house as a kind of bully. If a ghost were manipulating things in my house, I would go ballistic. I hate bullies. And ghosts are bullies to me. Even in dreams, if I see a ghost, I immediately attack it, punc