What's in a Name?

Callum Aaron Quigley

Callum Aaron Quigley- Irish-American ancestry; The widowed father of Hannah and Liam Quigley, Callum is a humble and honest man who works a modest job as an HVAC technician to sustain his family in the outskirts of Valley Stream, Long Island. He is generally even-tempered and gets along with almost everybody he interacts with, seldom angering or lashing out on others during times of stress. The son of Lois, a former school bus driver, and Keith Quigley, who worked a modest job as a sanitation worker, he was reared in a working-class environment in the suburbs of Buffalo, New York. He has three siblings, a brother named Niall with whom he had a rivalry and two sisters named Brigitte and Denise, whom initially shared a small bedroom with him before his family was able to afford a larger home. Like his late wife Lilly, Callum does not discriminate against others and is generally tolerant and openminded, judging those around him for the quality of their character rather than their background or appearance. He is a patient, humorous and affectionate father who often drew cartoons for his school's newspaper growing up and likes to dole out wisdom from his mother. He likes to make wood carvings and worked for a small van-and-storage company prior to Hannah's birth, but briefly lost his job when another company bought it. While he is sincere in his dedication toward guiding others, he has some limits to his patience however, as what he truly desires is for his family to be safe and responsible. Callum is nonetheless a kind and polite person who is willing to take risks for those he loves, to the point of appearing a bit overprotective, even if unintentionally. He was arguably the closest among his siblings to Lois and remained close to her throughout the years, regularly sending her money in his youth to help her financially whenever he could. 

The death of his late father Keith, whom he called "Pop-pop", at age 68 from complications after undergoing a colostomy left a significant impact upon him. Despite his family's working-class status, he tends to take situations in stride and is difficult to discourage or offend, having a comically angry face with a rather unsettling frown when angered. There were things the Quigley's did together as a family, and there were also things he and Lilly did with their two children individually. Regardless of the irrational jealousy she can occasionally experience over his closeness to her brother Liam, Callum shares a good relationship with his daughter Hannah as well and tends to bond with her over their shared interest in technology. Like most dad's however, he can be firm with his two children when they are acting up, being particularly hard on her as he often tries to encourage her to toughen up and develop a thicker skin. She often frequents the local electronics store with Callum as he tries to pass on some of his computer knowledge towards his daughter. Callum often clashed with his wife regarding Hannah's disorganization and uncleanliness, as well as her lack of focus on her surroundings and tendency to procrastinate on mandatory tasks, including her chores. He firmly believes in Hannah's potential as both a student and eventual contributor to society's common good and is known in his family as a mediocre cook, even though his pancakes turn out well. He perceives his eldest child Liam to be more independent and self-sufficient than his daughter and often dotes on and experiences a sense of pride over his strong work ethic and accomplishments, making Hannah refer to him as "The Delivernator 2.0". He is nevertheless watchful of Hannah and often scolded his late wife Lilly over her tendency of spoiling their daughter and "treating her like a baby" rather than encouraging her to act with maturity and take ownership of her actions. 

Hannah is a good-hearted, well-meaning girl whose antics may at times be a handful, causing Callum agitation and sometimes even spoiling his fun with her imaginative mischief. This became evident whenever his daughter had an unexpected outburst due to her social and personal struggles upon returning from school, particularly once Liam left for Cornell. He empathizes with his children however due to his own underachieving personality as a young man and formerly rebellious nature against authority. His brand of boots are deerhearts, and he was once involved in a bike gang embarrassingly called The Stingers, which he joined under the influence of his first love, a young woman named Margo. Callum's parenting style tends to be authoritative, with him acting sternly and demandingly towards Liam and Hannah, yet responsive as he expresses love and concern for his two children. He sometimes shows his affectionate side in providing warm hugs and high fives to his loved ones, as well as assuming a secret "identity" as The Human Kite to protect Hannah. Matters became more complicated however once Lois bought her a new pair of satin pajamas, the first time she had been allowed to pick out an outfit she liked on her own. She loved her new pajamas so much that she decided to wear them to school under her clothes, admitting this fact only to her father, who promised he would not reveal her "secret" to anybody. Callum is someone who realizes that many ideas and truths are tossed out the window in the name of "tradition" or "playing it safe", leading his wildly out-of-place family on epic journeys. He playfully nicknamed his young daughter his "ladybug" and mentions that when they lived in the country, they had to drive from house to house during Halloween since everything was so spread out. He often tries to guide Hannah and steer her in the right direction when she has made the wrong decisions, which has resulted in tumultuous times in his relationship with her.