A Note From His Niece

The first part of this narrative was written by my uncle, Francis Byrne, in 1990. Frank died in 2003, ready to go, I think. He was 95. At that time, he and his family no longer lived in the Perkiomen Valley Retirement Community he mentions. The place was sold, amenities changed, and they moved to a spacious apartment in East Norriton Township, PA. Later, Frank and Claire lived in an assisted living facility in Ambler, PA, until Frank transferred to the nursing home side, where he died. Aunt Claire lives on in Ambler; she is now 94.
Early on, Uncle Frank's writing tends to move from subject to subject without "topic bridges." This can be disconcerting if the reader thinks material has been dropped, but I assure you, I've recorded it as it stands. Actually, I think the choppiness of the early passages reflects the way our minds work: We move from memory to memory, idea to idea, abruptly and Uncle Frank was such a natural writer he just put it down as he thought of it. Later in the narrative, he dwells more thoroughly on certain subjects.
I did not revise punctuation or modify fragments of sentences. I did divide long blocks of writing into paragraphs and I corrected the occasional misspellings. I'll try to add increments of the 50-page document every day or, at least, every few days.
This work can be followed with interest without the following information, but some may add to the reader's enjoyment: Frank was the seventh of nine children born to Thomas and Elizabeth Byrne between 1885 and 1913 (the youngest died in infancy). Frank notes early on that his older brothers--Tom, John, Jim, and Joe--are gone, but that brother Edmond and sisters Rose, Mary, and Betty, are still living. However, they no longer are. Of my father's generation, all blood-related Byrne's are gone; only Claire, Frank's widow, survives.
Claire had been a Spratt, and "Charley Spratt," who appears in the first paragraph, was her brother. "Aunt Maggie," was Frank's aunt, and my great-aunt, the sister of Frank's mother, my grandmother. "R.C.H.S." stands for "Roman Catholic High School."
My father, Jim, Frank's brother, died in 1950. With joy, I found a ghost of his youthful self in these pages.
I added a short memoir by my Uncle Ed and a longer one by my Aunt Mary. They both add different perspectives to the saga of the Byrne family on Domino Lane.
Rosemary Byrne Molloy
Little Egg Harbor, NJ