After reaching the grand old age of seventy-two, I recently thought of questions I wish I’d asked my parents. Many of my queries seem frivolous. Nothing about the responses would change my life. They are simply curiosities, little puzzles that have popped into my head

I know very little about my parent’s early relationship. I know my mother worked at a lunch counter in Grand Central Station. My father was a security guard at the historic Commodore Hotel. I believe he would have lunch or dinner at her counter.

I have no clue what attracted a tall, good-looking Southern boy to an Irish immigrant eleven years his senior. I know a little about their first “dates”. One time they went to Coney Island and rode the roller coaster. My mother was wearing a dress with a black capelet. As the coaster made its big drop the capelet blew over her head, covering her face. My father turned to her, but the night was so dark he couldn’t see her. He thought she’d fallen out of the rapidly descending car. They had a good laugh afterward, but she said when they got off the ride he was pale and shaken.

On another date my father took her to a Chinese restaurant in New York’s Chinatown. It was her first time trying Chinese food. Mom had no clue what to order, so Dad ordered for her. I have no clue what the dish was. Like many people, he assumed since she was Irish she must like to drink alcohol. When he asked what she liked, she was too embarrassed to say she rarely, if ever, drank. Stepping up to the occasion he ordered her a Screwdriver. Apparently he believed the orange juice would counter the potency of the vodka. Mom found it so tasty she had three. Yes. Mom got tipsy. I often wonder if this was the night I was conceived.

There are more questions about those early days in my parent’s lives. How did my mother inform my father of my impending birth? Were they already living together or did this motivate them? Did my father inform his family back in Tennessee about the relationship? How did my mother tell her brother and sister who also lived in New York what was happening? Being a Roman Catholic and a virgin, was she initially ostracized by her siblings? So many questions I’ll never have an answer for.

Does anyone else have similar questions about the mysteries before they were born? How much does the average person know about their parents love lives?