Acidman reminds me that it is the Duke’s birthday.

John Wayne shared a name with my dad- Dad’s first name was Marion too. There were a lot of similarities. If you knew dad, you could see a lot of Duke in Dad, or maybe the other way around.
I loved “The Quiet Man” best. Showed how a gentleman acts- polite, generous, even tempered, and when called upon to defend his wife or property, tough as steel. And Maureen O’Hara- whoooof!!! When the Duke kisses her in the rain in that bombed out church, I can’t imagine anything or anyone or anywhere I’d rather be than the Duke at that moment, a beautiful, wet, redhead in his arms, in a storm, in the Irish countryside.

I watch those movies and they remind me a lot of Dad. John Wayne was the fiction, (though he really was who he acted, most of the time) but Dad was the reality- softspoken, tough, no-nonsense. Someday I’ll blog about dad- he’s been gone since 85 and the memory is still deep and hurts like hell. Hurts too much, in fact, for me to dwell on anymore now.

Anyway, Happy birthday, Duke. Say hi to Dad for me, he’ll buy you a beer, I’m sure.