there - not for literary purposes but for necessary, utilitarian use.

For the fourteen days of the relatives’ stay everything but the most necessary of chores was put on hold. Young and old entered into a fortnight party mode. The visitors stayed with our aunt, Helen Farrell, and her husband Willie, and their daughter, Edwina. Their home was the scene of daily “big feeds” and nightly, and often afternoon, dances for the entire period. The trip from New York must have been quite uncomfortable, as John always had a large can of Ballantine’s Ale hidden in each coil spring of both front and back seats of his car in order to get this contraband across the border. Our father and our uncles, William and Joe Kearney, made short work of the