1. He painted Bambi on the door for us.

2. He made a cooler by hand and painted a game on it; we would take bottle caps and play the game on the way to the keys.

3. I knew he always really loved mom because he would make us take her in a piece of meat to have her try it when he was barbecuing, yet we were kids, and I especially, was always starving for food and I did not appreciate bringing a piece of meat in for mom to try it when he had a whole rack of ribs out there on the grill. Everything seems to have always had to go through Mom.

4. He played the sirens in the police car, when John was born, as he rode down the street.

5. He made a tape of us screaming into the microphone for Halloween, so we would have the best house on the block. I loved that his mother helped make our costumes and I swear we were the best looking kids in the neighborhood.

6. I love that he was very creative, especially how he took the garage and changed it into a family room. Then he had a built-in couch with the drawers underneath and I could have sworn that we were the most updated family.

7. I loved when he took us to the keys every year, once with the Dalton’s, and then once with uncle Dick and aunt Linda for Easter, I just thought that was wonderful that we went everywhere with them. After becoming an adult, I realized you only get two weeks of vacation, and he always made it so special.

8. He sewed my guts back into my leg after Nunu and Auntie pushed me on the back of the bug and split my leg open. Thankfully he took a needle and thread and he stitched my leg back up.

9. I love that he was part of a team. Mom and dad always worked together I remember not knowing my ABC’s and they would take turns sitting down at the kitchen table. Even though I was hysterical, they worked as a team and lo and behold today I know my ABC’s.

10. The fact that he loved being a police officer so much that he moved from New York City to Delray Beach because he wore eyeglasses and you couldn’t be on the force in New York City wearing eyeglasses but you could be on the force in Delray Beach. Even though he was a nurse part time his real passion was being a police officer.

11. He really loved Ed Dalton I think I learned about adult friendship watching dad with uncle Dick and then with Ed.

12. Number 12 technically is not a memory it’s called a state of shock. Apparently dad saved my life because I jumped in the pool when I really didn’t know how to swim and apparently I started to float all on my own… upside down of course and he saved me. Thank you dad for saving my life.

13. Dad worked two jobs to provide for his family. And he instilled great character in me because I to at one point had two jobs to support my family… Until a brick fell on my head and I realized that wasn’t a memorable trait to carryover from my dad. On a happier note, today I have only one job and now for the rest of my life I’m only going to have one job. Thank you dad for the great work ethic, even though I know I got a lot from Mom because she still outworks me.

14. One of my greatest memories is going out fishing with dad, he taught me all about fishing. I loved going to the keys and catching fish and then Mom would fry it up and that’s what we would eat for dinner. I did not appreciate eating lobster with melted butter hence as an adult I do not like lobster with butter.

15. I love looking at all of his sketchbooks.

16. I remember inviting Maureen Doty over to play at our house, at the time we were playing in the living room. From the living room you could peer into the dining room, and as we did, mom and dad started to kiss right in front of us. OMG. When we went back to school (now remember we went to St. Vincent’s), Maureen told all my friends that they kissed in front of us, and I was so embarrassed I thought I would never have any friends anymore… I was shamed for the whole year.

17. When I was in second grade I stole candy from the 7-Eleven that’s right next-door to St. Vincent‘s. I then brought the candy back and shared with all my friends. Everyone knew that I didn’t have a lot of money, so when my father came to pick me up, my friends thanked me, he knew something was fishy. I tried to lie but he eventually found out I stole the candy from 7-Eleven. He put me in his police car with lights on and we went right back to 7-Eleven. I was crying and he made me tell them I was sorry and that I would work in the 7-Eleven to pay for the candy.

18. One weekend I invited Mary Jackson to sleep over on a Friday night. My father came home with McDonald’s hamburgers. We could only buy the hamburgers my mom would go to the store and buy soda and then she would cook the french fries and we could have one plastic cup of soda with our hamburgers. On this day hamburgers were $0.10, so my dad gave all of us each two hamburgers, so when I found out I was having McDonald’s hamburgers, I wanted Mary Jackson to go home. Dad said no you’ve invited her to stay she’s going to stay and she’s going to eat one of my hamburgers.

19. One time Jean, Dawn and I were playing in the house and we were running around and I ran into their bedroom and I was going to hide in their bathroom when I open the door dad was going to the bathroom and he said get out get out I’m going to the bathroom I thought that was so funny.

20. Dad loved to cook us liver and onions… God only knows why, because I HATED it. I learned a trick from Dawn and Jean that if you chew up your liver and you form it into a ball in your mouth and put it in a glass of milk it will actually sink to the bottom. I used to feed Gemini. Gemini was our little dog; he had a lot of liver in his diet.

21. Dad loved the holidays like Halloween and Easter. One Easter he hid an egg underneath this ashtray that stood up like a pedestal and he taped the egg underneath the ashtray we never found that egg. I don’t understand why he hid it there because I was 7… Did he think we were geniuses? Why would we go look underneath an ashtray and find a taped egg to a piece of furniture? Who in their right mind does that ? People hide eggs like in shoes, in the corner of couches , etc they don’t keep the egg underneath an ashtray. I mean I think of that now as an adult and it was pretty clever. We were never going to find that egg.

22. You would never know dad was a police officer, he never left his gun anywhere for us to see and we would go looking for it and we would never find out where he had his gun. I remember he would come home and he would take off his belt and he would go back in the bedroom and then he would come out he would still have on his uniform but the gun was gone. He never clean the gun in front of us or showed us the gun. I’d ask him one time have you ever pulled your gun out and he said if I pull my gun out, I would have to shoot it and if I had to shoot it I would probably kill someone.

23. I remember going to the Long Key State Park with the Dalton family. Mom and Dee Ann would go out shopping and she would come back with a treat for us. Sometimes we got a coloring book, a water gun or the paddle with the ball attached to it. I thought I was living like a queen. When mom and Dee Ann left, dad dug a hole right at our campsite and he filled it with water and he put fish in it so we would have fish right there swimming around by our tent.

Some of John’s favorite memories

Halloween customs being hand made, camping in Long Key State Park, nights around the campfire being told ghost stories such as “The man with the golden arm, the Mustard Seed, It Floats to name a few. Fishing on the John Boat off of the Long Key Bridge, how important family and friends were, as our vacations where spent with our very close family friends and a colleague of my fathers the Daltons. I grew up in a time that doors were left unlocked, all our movements where tracked by the neighbors who knew our names, who would lets us drink from the garden hoses and eat the fruit from their trees, and made sure that we where home before the street lights came on.

John’s Favorite memory

It was 1974, I was 7 years old. An epic battle broke out between my dad and a gigantic black snake. The following is my interpretation of the exchange (again I was 7 years old). From the South West corner of the property I heard a tremendous ruckus. As I peered over at the hedges, they began to separate straight down the middle and two glistening fangs appeared. The snake slithered out from his fortress, for he was hungry, and I was on the menu. Nothing stood between this vicious creature and me, until my father sprung into action with no regard for himself. He lunged at the snake with a rake but the snake quickly countered, wrapping itself around the rake handle and crushing it into saw dust. With nothing within reach, my father soon realized that he had to fight this creature with his bare hands. After what felt like an eternity of blows, bites, and rolling around in the yard, the creature soon realized it was outmatched and fled. Thanks to my dad we were all safe again…

Looking back now as an adult, I’ve realized what really happened. There was a black snake that came into the patio, and dad, with a rake, tried to direct it off the patio, and in doing so, the rake broke. So he had to pick it up and put it back into the yard. I prefer my 7 year old version.

Regardless of whatever tale you prefer, there is a lesson to be learned. My father did whatever it took to protect and serve others. These memories stand testament to the kind of individual he was. My father represents the thin blue line that unites each and every officer. He will forever be the bravest, coolest, snake slaying dad anyone has ever met.

(A letter from Linda Kennedy to her oldest son)

Dearest John,

I don't know how to write this, so I'll just speak from my heart.

I met your father in nursing school, and he went by Danny Kennedy. Sometimes I would sneak out of nursing school to be with him. Some of the students would pass me a blanket out the window to snuggle. His sister used to call him Danny boy. I fell in love with Danny. I remember dancing with him to the song Earth Angel by The Penguins. We danced and we danced and we danced under a blanket of stars because he was the moon, the earth, and the sun. Another memory of mine was when he taught me how to drive stick shift on his orange Nash Rambler. I was very nervous and he made it all right by leaning over and kissing me. I was always concerned about burning up his clutch, but it never happened. He was a wonderful teacher and had LOTS of patience.

I remember walking in the rain with him, and he took my face under the street light and kissed me ever so gently. It was really nice. And out of nowhere.

We went to New York City to meet my mother for dinner and she ordered grasshoppers for us to drink. Although dinner was nice, she preferred I marry a doctor. Danny and I got lost in NYC and we wound up in Harlem and a police officer came by and told us "you don't belong here" and gave us money for the subway.

Danny would take me up to Suffern to see his parents. His father was fun to be with and I always felt very loved by his father. Your grandmother may have wanted better for your father as my parents wanted for me.

I was deeply in love with your father. I would write on my papers Mrs. Danny Kennedy even though we weren't married yet. I became pregnant and I remember when we visited his parents house and his mother knew our secret. I originally tried to get married at St. Vincent's by Father Skeehan but he refused, so we got married by a justice of the peace in Florida. It was September. Dawn was born the following February.

I left nursing school while your dad stayed. However, he didn't finish RN school. He became a LPN instead. We then moved in with his parents. Your dad worked at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, NY as a LPN. 9 months later I become pregnant with Jean. After Jean was born, we got married in a church.

Your dad was an exceptional nurse, and all his patients loved him. He was an attribute to the Good Samaritan Hospital. He had a great deal of compassion.

I was terribly lonely when your father went to Florida and started working at Orkin Exterminators. He left me in NY with the 3 girls while he worked to find us a home. Once I moved down to Florida, he became a police officer and was sworn in, in February. He then became John D. He absolutely loved the force. He would work the night shift, and I remember crying for 3 weeks. All my friends were in NY and my husband would sleep a lot during the day. I missed him terribly.

When he worked the evening shift, I would always have dinner ready and then he would help with baths. He would always come home and take his gun off and put it in the closet in the master bedroom. He was always very careful not to let our children see it.

He was very, very proud to be a police officer. When he would come home, I would ask him about his day and the police force, but he was very closed mouthed. I thought it was for my protection.

He grew a mustache and was very proud of that mustache. I have a picture of him sitting on the couch in his uniform, and he looked accomplished.

He would take me to the policeman's ball, and we would dance, drink, and have lots of fun. I loved slow dancing with him. I would get nervous, but he would tell me: "it's all going to be all okay."

I loved it when your father would call me "Linda my baby."

Your father played tennis in high school and was very good at the sport. I remember hiking with him at Bear Mountain in NY, and I was terrified to come down. I'd still be on the mountain if it hadn't been for him. He guided me, and it took a long time because I was fearful.

He tried teaching me how to use a rifle, but I wasn't really into that.

We would go to the stock car races with Dick Conklin. We both loved going.

He was so full of adventure and could fix anything. My favorite physical feature about John were his legs. He had really nice legs, especially when he would tan. I remember camping with everyone and he would bring back lobster. He would put an air conditioner in our tent. He was the fun dad, always playing and watching cartoons. I was the disciplinary one.

All my love,
Your favorite mom

1. Friday night creature feature with popcorn

2. Saturday morning cartoons

3. Cooking on the barbecue pit as all of us ran around in the backyard.

4. The fish tanks and the helix that he made for mom with golf balls and straws.

5. All of us being at the dinner table when he came home on his dinner break. Especially the night they told us about Mom being pregnant with Danny.

6. The blue van and the cooler that he made into a game board for our trip to the keys.

1. Camping, Dad telling ghost stories at the campfire w/Daltons, fishing

2. Creature feature and cartoons

3. Dad making Halloween customs: skunks, one eyed monsters, prisoners, witches.

4. Eating dinner as a family....liver Dad loved liver.

5. Dad taking pictures the first day of school in front of the VW van.

6. Catching the duck with a laundry basket and making us set it free

7. Reading Rapunzel to Laurie Oliver and me

8. When he took me to buy bananas

9. When Sockey Ockey (Shiatsu) got into a fight and was hurt bad, Dad was very reassuring to us that he would be okay....he was.