Through an Open Window

Through an Open Window ©

By

Michael Casey

I looked through my window and saw an open window which reminded me of my criminal past, at the age of 5 years old maybe. You see our lodger left his room window open, so I  climbed through and opened his black with catch two door 4 feet high food cupboard with paper lined shelves in. Yes, I can really picture it as I speak, this is 55 years plus after the fact.  I remember stuff, ask me serious stuff, useful stuff that’ll get me a job I haven’t got a clue as it would bore me so I’d never remember in 100 years or half that.

The lodger was the one whose anniversary has just gone, 15^th August 1980 was the date of his funeral at Saint Patrick’s before we shipped his body home to Killybegs Donnegal Eire. So 40 years on I’m praying for him, maybe in part due to my criminal past in  early 1960s. I’m sure I’ve got him into Heaven by now, and he is still calling me “young pup”. I had to struggle to get on the windowsill, then I had to lower his window down and enter his room. Then I had a bit of the tart, the ones you can still get, 6 in a packet in silver tins. I did leave a bite mark in a half-eaten one, before I made my escape from his room, I did of course like a good thief push the window back up. So nobody could possibly know I had entered and half eaten  a tart.

So the lodger who became like an uncle to me, he had a tart with his tea that evening when he got home from Nettlefords. Only my bite mark was on the tart. I remember him telling my mum, was I actually there, hiding behind her knowing a belting would be coming. The lodger kind of laughed. I cannot remember much more than that. Though he did put a catch on his window so it stayed ajar for fresh air, but no fresh thieves could enter. He drilled holes in the bottom of the window frame so he could soak me with a water pistol as I passed by on the way to play in the garden.

So a soaking was the price I paid for my “breaking and entering”. The lodger was good to me, he got me a briefcase for grammar school. It came directly to our house, it was only because it said “with compliments” from Embassy cigarettes that we knew it was from him. I did nag him for a watch if I passed the 11 plus  exam, this allows you to go to grammar school. 4 out of 60 passed at my primary school. And yes he gave me a watch, and thus my life long love of watches began. In return when he appeared very yellow and mum told him to go see the doctor, and it turned out to be yellow jaundice, I stayed with him as he lay in bed all covered up. I’d be 12 be then I  think, our house was right next door, and he was in the ground floor bedsit.

My  life has been interesting because of all the lodgers and interactions with them, maybe 7 years after that in 1979 another lodger died on me while I tried CPR. So life through a window literally, or the window of bedsit land and people and their lives does inform you. First hand knowledge of addictions, most of the lodgers were alcoholics or very close, work pub bed, work pub bed, that’s how it was in the 60s onwards.  I could say far far more, but I’ll leave it for today, knowledge is power and it is also pain, some things you never want to see first-hand, nor experience first-hand, and I’m not just talking about lodgers. So the best thing to do is watch through windows, Microsoft or otherwise, and be very very careful which windows you climb though, no matter how tempting the tart in the cupboard is.