Two Lives up on the Hill

By John J. Riley

The story of Marie Cameron and Tom OLeary whose lives are lived in the beautiful village of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Marie, a lawyer, lives a quality and privilege life. Tom, a carpenter, lives a plain and simple life. Their combined stories make for an unforgettable tale that spans 40 years.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493154401

John J. Riley

John J. Riley is a retired piano restorer and merchant, having run his piano business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for fifty-seven years. He is a widower, the father of six children and grandfather of seven. After his retirement, he has written and published four books. Two Lives is his fifth effort. Mr. Riley’s writings have an element of yesteryear, of glorious memories of times and places of a gentle world. His characters evoke our memories of people we have and can identify with, ever so human, doing their best to survive in a hard and rude world. One of the top literacy critics wrote of Mr. Riley’s work, His work leaves much to be desired to good writing construction etc. But I find myself absolutely fascinated by his stories and his characters. He does possess the gift of Irish story telling. I look forward to his writings in spite all of his literacy faults.

Book preview

Copyright © 2014 by John J. Riley.

Library of Congress Control Number:          2013922818

ISBN:          Hardcover          978-1-4931-5439-5

                   Softcover            978-1-4931-5438-8

                   eBook                  978-1-4931-5440-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cover Credits: Far left side, James J. Riley, my son. Far right, picture of my daughter, Regina Riley Shirk.

Rev. date: 05/14/2014

Xlibris LLC

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

539490

Contents

Acknowledgments

—Foreword—Up on the Hill

Prologue

Two Lives

Tom O’Leary—I Meet Marie

Marie and Tom

Another Meeting

I Meet Mrs. Cameron

A Serious Discussion

A Statement of Love

A Respite

Christmas

A New Year

Changes

Marie Enters College

Mother Meets Marie

Marie Continues College

A Showdown

The Beginning of the End

Life Without Marie

Moving On

I Meet My Love

Marie’s Great Law Case

A New Way of Life

Business Is Changing

Marie Returns

A Special Job

Mary and I Get to Know Each Other

Finishing the Artistic Library

Marie’s Legal Problems

Will You Marry Me?

Wedding Preparations

The Law Case

The Great Day

Marie’s New Troubles

A Blessed Event

The Trial of Bob Mason III

A New Baby

A Business Decision

Bob’s Downward Spiral

Life with the New Baby

Military Academy

The Answer to Military Academy

Business as Usual

Good News—Another Baby

Planned Parenthood

Marie’s Office Changes

A New Baby

A Business Decision

Political Ambitions

Mary’s Mother Dies

Mary Is Expecting

Another Boy

Marie’s Date

Bob Sees Marie

Our New Home

Marie’s Decision

The Business

Thoughts of Death

Marie’s Great Trial

Our Life in Chestnut Hill

Marie’s Ex-Husband

The O’Leary Children

A Death in Our Company

Young Bob at the Military Academy

A Memorable Christmas

Bob Meets His Father

The Business Moves Along

A Blessed Event

Mary Gives Birth

Changes

Our Life in Chestnut Hill

Mother Dies

Times Are Changing

A Murder Case

Love Walks In

The Business

The Prom

The Great Trial

Marie Speaks

First Witness

Dr. Goldfine’s Testimony

The Summation by the Prosecutor Mr. Bellak

The Summation by Mrs. Marie Mason

The Verdict

The Business

A Murder

Bob’s Trial

John Gruerio Interviews Mark Crowley

Starting Anew

Getting Back To Normal

The Family

A Health Problem

The Second Opinion

Putting Things in Order

Christmas Joy

The Business

Changes

A Joyous Occasion

Time Marches On

Marie’s Pro Bono Work

The Dark Night of the Soul

The Light Appears

Health Problems

Our Favorite Day—Christmas

A New Year

Coming into the Homestretch

Christmas Day

The End

The Funeral

Marie’s Meeting

Epilogue

Epilogue

Tom O’Leary Two Lives

Marie Cameron

Chestnut Hill

Up on the Hill

As a boy, I heard these words. I wondered where this mysterious place was. When I was ten years of age, my father took me to work up on the hill. It was Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. My life and my livelihood began that day.

Tom O’Leary

Adversity Makes

Even the Timid Brave

Dedicated to Kathleen

Acknowledgments

To Son Jim—for his pictures and cover work

To Son Kevin-for his photo and over all help

To Sons John and Tom—for their general help

To my daughter Regina-for her computer work

To my daughter Bridget-for general help

To Ms. Kathleen Balassaitis-for her encouragement and her ideas

on the characters

To the Chestnut Hill Historical Society for their facts and knowledge

To as always, the great staff at Xlibris for their patience and professionalism

—Foreword—

Up on the Hill

As a small boy, I would often hear my father refer to his day’s work as working up on the hill. Dad was a fine carpenter and master cabinetmaker. Self-employed. A master of his trade. Mother would ask him, Where are you working today, Tom? If he would answer Up on the hill, Mary, I would wonder where this mysterious place was. Up on the hill! To me it was like Emerald City that Dorothy would speak of in The Wizard of Oz. Then at the age of ten, Dad took me to work with him to a job up on the hill.

It was a beautiful, crisp day in autumn. We drove all the way up Germantown Avenue to the Chestnut Hill train station. Up on the hill was Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. As he turned right in his old Ford pickup off Germantown Avenue, it was like Emerald City—another world with great three-story homes with beautiful trees and flowers. The homes were so large. There were only three or four homes to a block, not like where we lived in Lower Germantown. There, it was an endless row of houses to each block.

Upon arriving at Dad’s job, he pulled into this great driveway. A two-car garage was open. In it was a large black Packard sedan with giant white sidewall tires. Upon entering this fine home, Dad took his tools into the living room, which was probably as large as our entire home. In this room were a beautiful baby grand piano, a regal grandfather clock, great bookshelves, fine rugs, and hand-carved furniture. To my ten-year-old eyes, this was another world. I could not believe people could live like this. I was in absolute awe of all this.

At the time, I let Dad do his work, but I did have many questions. First question was, Do all people who are rich live like this? Second question was, How do you get to be rich? Dad was a man of few words, but he would never evade a question. His answers were with a minimum number of words right to the point. To my first question, Yes, most rich people live like this. His answer to my second question was To get rich you must work very hard, or someone in your family worked hard at one time and left you their money when they died. At the age of ten, I did not quite understand the economics of the second answer. But I did know one thing for sure: this was a fine way to live.

Up on the hill was a world I would grow to love, always asking Dad to take me along on his work up on the hill. As I got older, Dad would teach me the trade, so my desire to be up on the hill was fulfilled. Little did I know, up on the hill, or Chestnut Hill, would be where my life and livelihood would commence. And it would also be the purpose of this book.

Prologue

This is a story of two people whose lives and personas are as diverse from each other as night is from day.

Marie Cameron is a young lady from a fine, upper-class family residing in the prestigious area of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Marie’s father is a most prominent attorney of substance.

Tom O’Leary is a young man of humble means, born and raised in the poor section of Lower Germantown by his parents, Tom and Mary O’Leary. Tom’s father is a carpenter and cabinetmaker. Tom learns the trade from his father.

Marie and Tom fall in love. After a year, they break up, each going their separate ways. However, for the remainder of their lives, they remain dear friends. This is the unique story of Marie Cameron, a powerful and top-notch attorney, and Tom O’Leary, a plain and simple man, and their life’s successes and failures.

Two Lives

If any young lady had it all going for her, it was Marie Cameron. Marie was a classic eighteen-year-old beauty with long black hair, large blue eyes, and a refined demeanor about her. She carried herself with class and dignity befitting her station in life. Marie also had the good fortune to be born to Mary and James Cameron. Her father was a distinguished attorney with the great law firm of O’Brien Cameron & Decker, with offices at Fifteenth and Chestnut Streets. Mr. Cameron was of English and Irish heritage. They lived in a single large Tudor home in the prestigious section of Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Mr. Cameron drove a great Packard sedan. Marie attended the finest private schools. Throughout her young life, Marie was an exceptional A-student.

The family was of the Episcopal faith. However, Mrs. Cameron was raised as a Roman Catholic. She was Irish. But she converted to the Episcopal Church to satisfy Mr. Cameron, who said he never cared for the church of Rome. However, Mary Cameron never really left the holy mother church as when she would encounter a crisis in her life, out would come the rosary beads and her prayers to our blessed mother. What is the old adage that states, Once a Catholic, always a Catholic? However, Marie was not into religion, seeing it only as a social function. Although her mother would counsel Marie on God’s power and goodness in one’s life, Marie was cool to that trend of thought.

As a young girl of only fourteen years of age, Marie became fascinated by the law. She vowed to become an attorney, oftentimes asking her father complex legal questions in regard to the law. Mr. Cameron was very happy to see in Marie a serious student, knowing Marie would achieve her goal in life. Marie was naturally the envy of the young women in her age group. She was also the girl most parents desired for their sons. However, true to her persona, Marie had one steady boyfriend. He was Robert Mason II. Much like Marie, Robert came from the same background, a quasi wasp like Marie, an only child. He was the personification of an upper-class young man. A college man studying engineering at the University of Penna. Captain of the rowing team. A six-foot giant of a man yet with a personality that registered zero on a scale of ten. Robert Mason II had all the charisma of a wet dish towel. When Marie’s girlfriends would talk of romantic love, Marie felt she was above such foolish flights of fancy. Thinking of a mate and lifetime companion and one must, be practical—he must be of the same background and have the same goals and social endeavors as you.

Just as Marie had her life goals, so did Robert. After they graduated from college, Robert and she would marry. Robert would pursue a career in engineering. Marie would do the same in her law career. However, Marie declined her father’s offer to have her come into his firm, feeling she desired to start at the bottom with a small lesser firm. In time they would have a family. Marie’s mother cautioned her on her well mapped-out plans for her life, saying life is to be an adventure to be lived to its fullest. One cannot plan every facet of one’s life, as life is at its best when the unexpected appears that makes us grow and brings out the best in us.

Mary Cameron was from a poor Irish Catholic family of five children, her father a good, simple man, a bricklayer, who would instruct his children to live each day to its fullest. Upon her marriage to James Cameron, to her family and peers, she hit the jackpot, so to speak. Mary Cameron did live an uneventful life in Chestnut Hill. But from all outward appearances, it was a good marriage.

Marie was now eighteen years of age. She was to graduate from the prestigious Shipley School, the most exclusive school on the main line. Marie received first honors. She had also been chosen as the valedictorian, receiving many honors—the star of the show, so to speak.

Tom O’Leary—I Meet Marie

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On a beautiful Saturday in April, I was driving my pickup truck along Butler Pike in Chestnut Hill. On the side of the road, I saw a pretty young girl with a damaged bike—front wheel and fork broken. Her face was bruised. She seemed a bit dazed. I stopped my truck, asking her, Are you all right? She answered, No, I am not. I hit a rut on the road. The next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I asked, Can I take you to the hospital or your home? She answered, If you could drive me home, I would be grateful. I picked up her bike, wheel, and fork and put them in my truck. Opening the door of my truck, she introduced herself, extending out her right hand, which was bruised, saying, My name is Marie Cameron. I gently took her hand to say, My name is Tom O’Leary. I live in Germantown. Marie said, I live in Chestnut Hill on Chestnut Lane. I will give you directions.

As I started the engine, the radio came on to the program I was listening to before stopping. It was the Saturday afternoon broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera Company. I told Marie, I hope my music does not bore you. Marie answered, "No, I love opera. Especially this opera—Lucia di Lammermoor. I agreed, saying, This is one of my favorites. Marie asked, What do you do for a living, Tom? I answered, I am a carpenter. Marie again asked, Do you work for a company? I answered, No, I am self-employed with my own small company. I then told Marie, You are most fortunate as the accident could have been much worse. Marie agreed, saying, I know. I could have broken bones or worse. As it is, my old bike took most of the damage. I guess my bike is a total loss. I said, No way, Marie. I have the very same bike and make. Schwinn—it is quality. I know it can be repaired. Marie said, I am happy to hear that."

Marie then asked, Tom, where did you learn to appreciate opera and fine music? I answered, My dear Irish mother—she loved the finer things in life, such as fine music, good books, art. Though we were poor, Mother taught me the best in life and people. Yes, my mother is a beautiful person. How about you, Marie? How did you grow to love opera? Marie answered, My mother and father both love all classical music and opera. It was sort of passed onto me. I asked Marie, Do you get to attend any operas at the academy? Marie answered, No, I do not, as my boyfriend does not care for fine music. I said, That is a shame, as a night at the opera is a musical treat unlike anything else.

At this time, we arrived at Marie’s home. It was one of those great Chestnut Hill homes—the kind wealthy people lived in. As I pulled my truck into the driveway, the garage door was open. I said to Marie, I will put your bike and parts in the garage. Marie said, That would be fine. As we both entered the kitchen, Marie called, saying, Is anyone home? No one answered. Marie said, I guess we are alone. I suggested she wash her face off and asked for some bandages. Upon washing Marie’s face and bruised hand with hot washcloths and bandages, I suggested just to be on the safe side to check with her doctor. Marie laughed and said, Nonsense. As a doctor, you are fine. For a carpenter, you have a gentle touch. I thanked Marie, asking her for her phone number to call tomorrow to find out how you felt. I assured her that would be the extent of my call. Marie said, Tom, I trust you. You engender trust.

The next day, I called Marie about four o’clock—no answer. Then about five thirty, I received a call from Marie saying, This is Marie Cameron, your patient, saying I feel just fine. I did as you suggested. I did see my doctor. Everything is fine. Again, thank you, Tom. I told my mother of my Good Samaritan. Strange as it may seem, my mother thinks she knows your mother. I wonder if it would be agreeable to meet you for lunch so I can properly thank you. I answered, I was about to suggest the same. How about tomorrow at two o’clock? Marie said, That would be fine. I said, I will pick you up at your home two o’clock. Marie said, How about we meet at the Chestnut Hill train station at two? I said, I will be there.

Marie and Tom

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At precisely ten minutes to two o’clock, I pulled up to the Chestnut Hill train station. There was Marie, as lovely as I remembered her. What class and poise she had. My thought was, This beautiful lady should be picked up in a Packard limo, not a twelve-year-old Ford pickup. As I stopped the truck and opened the door for Marie, she said, Tom, you are right on time. Most people do not keep their time commitments. I asked Marie, How are you today? Any pains? You look just beautiful. Marie said, When I told my dad of my encounter with my good friend Tom O’Leary, both Dad and Mom knew your mother, saying, ‘Any son of Mary Breman could only act as he did.’ I asked Marie, Do you have any choice where you would like to have lunch? Marie answered, No, Tom, I leave it up to you. I suggested a diner on Butler Pike, not far from