 |
JOHN
DUNN
�You know,� Harvey Greene said one evening, �I believe I know the kindest
man in the whole world.
�Just who would that person be?� Clarence asked as he tossed
another piece of birch into the pot bellied stove.
�Its got to be Timothy O�Malley. I don�t think anyone here
knows him because lives in New York City now and he wasn�t in Maine
very long. In fact, as I recall, he was only in Maine for a few hours
and that�s what makes his story even kinder.�
�What in the world did he do?� Clarence asked as every
head in the room turned in the direction of Mr. Greene.
|
�A couple years ago Timothy was in Ireland and had just received
his papers allowing him to come to America. The night before he
left all the people in his town got together and gave him a farewell
party. As he was getting ready to leave and go home to finish his
packing an elderly lady named Mary Dunn took him by the hand and
asked him to grant her one boon. |
 |
 |
When
he got to America she wanted him to look up her son John Dunn. He
lived in a big whitehouse in Kittery Maine, and according to her
son John, it was easy to recognize because there�s a little red
house close by. She said when John first went to America he wrote
to her every day. Then his letters started coming once a month and
now she hears from him about once a year. Then she told Tim she
was getting old and was going to die pretty soon and she�d like
to hear from John again. |
Her words touched Tim�s heart and every day on the ship
heading for America he thought about her and her son, and once he had
cleared Ellis Island he got on a bus heading for Kittery. On the outskirts
of Kittery Tim noticed a big white house with a small red house close
to it so he asked the driver to stop and he got off. It was shortly
after sunrise as Tim walked up the gravel road leading to the house.
As he neared the white house a man came out of the little red house.
He was adjusting the right strap on his coveralls and he stopped short
in his tracks when he saw Tim.
 |
Tim
took a quick look at the little red houseand noticed a half moon
cut into the upper middle of the door. He had never seen anything
like this before so he ignored it as he asked the man who owned
the building if he was Dunn. The farmer very politely told him he
was done and was curious why Tim had asked. The farmer was really
confused when Tim told him his mother wanted him to write before
she died." |
|
