In the beginning of 1959 my parents made for Dublin City. My father carried with him the equivilant of three hundred and thirty five Euros today. Fifteen Pounds. A modest sum by all accounts. The destination? A jewelers. The purpose? The purchase of an engagement ring. An extremely happy and exciting time in any life partners relationship.
Unfortunately the source of that modest sum would place a taint on that experience once learned.
My father was a lifelong lover of dogs. Whether for hunting, protection or just plain companionship Dad ALWAYS had a dog to by his side as he manuevered through life. At the time it was an Irish Red Setter named Trigger.
Irish Red Setter Courtesy Goggle
Father had, luckily for the time and era, secured a respectable job at The Agricultural Institue at Kinsealy. Unfortunately he had come up short when the time had come to go secure the ring. Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, least of all my Mom, in order to make up for the shortfall Dad had made the painful and heartbreaking decision to sell his most beloved of pets in order to come up with the funds. My Mom did not learn about this until much later when my Father came clean and disclosed where he had gotten the money for the ring. Understandably my Mom was heartbroken to learn the source of these funds. Indeed to this day it still brings up uncomfortable emotions.
Sometimes in life we do things and make decisions that have unintended consequences that last an entire lifetime. Not having an inkling at the time that this is the case. My Father had to make a decision. I'm under no delusion that he made this decision off the cuff. Without experiencing and going through some very difficult feelings and emotions. In the end he did what he did, I believe, because he was deeply in love with my Mother and wanted everything during the courting and engagement to be perfect. So he made a sacrifice that, sadly, didn't only end up affecting him.
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