Sentimental Sunday...The Hero and His Imaginary Friend

While helping the Hero's mother and sister,  I was surprised to find the Hero's imaginary friend had impacted his family greatly.  When helping his sister, the first Hero story she remembered was his imaginary friend Danny who lived at the Shamrock Hotel.  This was the same for his mother.  They both said his imaginary playmate was a regular visitor at their house and it stood out because the Shamrock was consistently the home of Danny.  Mom was particularly puzzled because, the Hero was a twin.  She had never thought that one might have an imaginary friend when they were together all the time. Jean was puzzled because she couldn't imagine where he got the idea of the Shamrock because they didn't go there. 

They both said he would go about the house talking with his friend and planning what they would do.  When asked about who he was doing this with, he would say Danny.  They would ask where is Danny staying, we haven't seen him on the block?  He would say, "He lives at the Shamrock.  He keeps his horse there."  They would laugh and he would happily go off galloping on his imaginary horse with his friend.  He must have been about 4 or 5 years old from their accounts.  What in imagination the Hero had at an early age!  Danny was a regular visitor for some time, they didn't remember when his play stopped, but the story of imaginary friend Danny was strong in their memories.
He was a great story teller for his children when they were small.  They would be sick and he would sit down an make up a story for them. It would always have action and a happy ending. When we were on trips, he could come up with a story to entertain them with while he drove.  Their mom got a book. 
Here is a link to the story about The Hero and his imaginary friend as told by him.

Sentimental Sunday The Hero and His Imaginary Friend

This story is taken from the Hero's personal history he started a year before he died.
It is in his own words.  I added the pictures his mother gave to me.

"I had an imaginary friend too. I suppose I had first dreamed of him. Whenever it was necessary for me to play alone, which was not very often, I would play with him. He was very real to me. He had a horse. I guess I wanted a horse. My friend was me; but with, all the options I wished I had. I had only seen a horse on TV or at the movies. However, a photographer had come by the house taking pictures of children in cowboy attire on the back of a pony.

I suppose the pony caught my imagination. The main thing my friend had, that I desired, was a horse that would take him anywhere he wanted to go. So he would tell me about his exciting life. Like how he rode the horse to the Shamrock Hilton Hotel.

 When asked what he did with the horse, I was told that he tied it up in the back by the pool cabanas. I reported the incident to my family and they got a chuckle of it."

He had a bond with the Shamrock Hotel.  Maybe it was because it was constructed when he was born and was considered a great building of its time.  It really bothered him when it was demolished in 1987.