Jim was always my favorite uncle. Jim and Grace were also my God- parents. I remember visits to Dad's (John P Allaire) parents in Floral Park with Jim, Grace, Ginny, Doug, Neil and Jimmy (as we called him back then) being there as well. Dad, Jim and I would sometimes walk several blocks to the train station and watch trains go by.
There were also trips to Jim's cool house in Katonah. There was a train set in the basement and you could make the horn work in the train. I remember the horn got stuck in the on position once. Doug would remind before I did something wrong with his stuff that . . . I will pound you into the ground. He was joking I'm sure, as my sense of humor evolved into a similar one over the years. As I grew older, Clint Eastwood's mannerisms reminded me of a young Neil Allaire. Sadly, I haven't seen Jim's kids (with the exception of Jim(my)) since childhood.
After Mom died (Helen Allaire), Jim came for the funeral and stayed for several days to make sure Dad was okay. Later, Dad remarried and organized a family reunion of sorts for my wedding to Lori in March of 2000. Dad died a week and a half before the wedding, but the reunion took place anyway. As all of us gathered for dinner the night before the wedding, Jim made a wonderful, tear jerker toast to Dad.
To me, Jim was calm in all things. He was very smart and his conversations were always about things and events and never about gossip or bad mouthing anyone. He was a great man with a great family. I regret (as I did with Grace) that I will not be able to be at the service for him. I love him and I'll miss him a lot.
