Timothay was born in Septimber in Boston, to the delight of his Irish parents, Amy and Conor. However, when he was three they moved to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he spent his childhood. Five years old when his sister, Ciara, was born, Timothay recieved attention and adoration from both parents, and was likewise fond of his little sister. He remembered his mother being often weak or sick, but it was not until he was ten that her symptoms grew so bad she was taken to the hospital. He and his sister were sent to Colorado to live with their Dunn grandparents. He enjoyed the travelling, having inherited his father's restless side, and thought Colorado much more beautiful then Carolina. He didn't worry about his mother, deciding nothing could possibly happen to her.
The Dunns lived in a large, comfortable lodge in the mountians near Colorado Springs, the ideal place for a young boy. He made friends quickly and any concern for his mother was gently muffled in the love and friendship with his grandparents and new playmates. A year later he and Ciara were called back home. Thay was frightened a little when he saw his mother bedridden, but she assured him she was fine and it was only temporary. Their family settled back into a new kind of normal, and Thay was busy enough exploring the new house and neighborhood (the house having been bought after Thay and Ci went to their grandparents).
For five years Timothay was sure he'd never been happier. Lacking the power struggles that tore up many parent-teen relationships, when he was fifteen he was a good student, a good son, and a good brother. His mother's weak condition made it clear to him that she might not be around when he had his own fmaily so he spent as much time with her as possible. He was athletic, a reconised running champion in his school and holding several records. Often, he read with her, or watched old romance movies like "Casablanca," which she loved. But that spring Amy took a turn for the worse and an uneasy Thay was told he had to go to Ireland to stay with the Donnovan grandparents. He didn't like the idea--why couldn't he stay in the States? He was old enough to take care of himself, he didn't want to leave his mother. He wanted to be there should something happen. He didn't want to go to Ireland and he argued more heavily with his father then he had ever before. There was no choice, however, and an angry Timothay went with Ciara to a country they'd never been to to stay with people they had never met.
Timothay was miserable for months in Ireland, insisting he couldn't understand a word, that he didn't like anyone. Ciara however seemed in her element, already knowing Gaelic from her father and understanding--as well as adopting--the accent with minimal trouble. She made friends too, particuarly one Irish boy about Thay's age named Liam. Soon he too made friends; they stayed for a year before returning to the States. Amy was fine and a decision was reached that over summer vacation, both children would go to Ireland to stay with the grandparents.
Timothay soon fell in love with Ireland, determining to go to a college there that he and some of his friends talked about. However all his dreams of study and ambitions stumbled to a halt when his mother died. After her funeral, buried in his greif, he returned to Ireland while Ciara went to Colorado. In Belfast, Thay finishd his studies with mechanical interest, graduated, and went to a college where he took a degree in teaching. Getting work in a college, he always remembered his mother's advice and his own desire--"I don't want to be rich. I just want to be loved." |
