Jamie’s Valley Forge

Memorable Thoughts of Jamie (FitzGerald O’Brien) Kindem, 17 March 2013

As an uncle to Jamie, I was lovingly involved in her life from day one, though initially from a distant
Texas. Our eventual move to North Carolina, and my various project outings to the Northeast, drew
me more and more into the direct sphere of her “sparkle.” Regular Thanksgiving outings were a happy
“must” for the NC Fitzs, to include her favorite sport (soccer) contests among family and friends.

How is the joy of shared family memories to be put into words? The futility of the effort is why we hold
her in our hearts.

A sample of this place in our hearts, though, may be shared (for me) by a fond picture I was
spontaneously able to capture on an O’Brien outing to Valley Forge Park, PA, one day. Why? Perhaps
because I snapped it, to some degree, but more, in honesty, due to the essence of affection it captured
between “Jame” and her sibs, Douglas and young Kathryn. It is true. A picture speaks a “thousand
words,” but I would venture to add a few.

The day, as I remember, had the crisp hint of spring. The thaw was on Pennsylvania, with just enough
patches of snow on the ground to hearken the hallowed history there, where Dan and Maureen had
brought us (I being the uncle tag along,) on a Sunday afternoon (?) as I recall. Uncle, being a Military
Science buff in his day, was (uncharacteristically) regaling the younger generation with stories of the
Continentals and militias’ quarters, the British Army bad guys in nearby Philadelphia, General George
Washington’s dilemmas of supplies, pay, and training. All more entertainment than education, as we
practiced “Count von ‘Schtewben’ Stueben’s” close order drill on Valley Forge’s (nearly) green fields.

Jamie, being the oldest sib and at the age when children – young girls in particular – become more
self conscious of their approaching maturity, could have opted out (quite legitimately) of what might
have been interpreted as a “boys’ game,” the discussion and playful reenactment of soldiers. Instead,
she plunged into it. Wholeheartedly playing the demanding (between giggles) “von Schtewben” drill
sergeant to her squad of sibs in ranks. The parade on Valley Forge’s green, humoring and playing along
with her uncle’s stories of the Irish in American ranks before there was an America, and the precise jobs
of cannoneers, given her Uncle Mike (like her Dad, a Vietnam era officer)’s partiality to artillery. It was a
fun afternoon, and at the conclusion of it, Jamie happily “marshaled” her “troops” to pose for a picture
on a Valley Forge replica brass cannon.

I (Uncle Michael,) having just come from visiting her beloved grandfather Chris FitzGerald (WW II vet)
in New York City, was sporting an ‘Irish tweed’ hat my father had given me from a recent trip of his
“home.” At the last moment before a picture snap (we had taken a few) she claimed “Gramps’ hat” for
interest and dramatic effect, fending off her sibs’ claims playfully and resorting to her recently acquired
drill sergeant discipline to insist they “smile.” I like to think I made a light-hearted comment she might
“wear” it but it did not mean she would “own” it, causing the heart winning smiles of Jamie and her sibs,
but, in honestly, I flatter myself with such a thought. The joy and love in the O’Brien sibs eyes straddling
the cannon as though it were a see-saw, on considered reflection, is not just the love they grew up
with (no small matter indeed,) but their love for each other, and for Jamie’s participation and sibling
leadership on that day, and for Jamie’s special love for her grandfather, showing her joy at his being
remembered with them, in the spirit of a ‘tweed’ cap. Her ‘sparkle’ shines through it all.

– Michael FitzGerald (Maureen’s Brother)