My family isn’t really Irish well—lets just say we are
more Scot than Irish, but a Celt is a Celt. However, for St. Pat’s we’re
Irish.
My family isn’t small. My mom had 9 kids. I tease about
coming from a litter of 9. My mom laughs while telling me how bad I am. Any
family get together is usually pretty big and even bigger when we add in the
kids of kids.
My brother throws an annual Celtic party every St. Pat’s
Day. It truly is his favorite holiday he tends to go all out with decorations,
lights, and atmosphere. This year was no different. Though not all the family
could come, we still had a large group of family and friends. The weather was
outstanding for March, shirtsleeves even at 10 p.m. There are huge amounts of
food prepared, lots of laughter and music. Oh, yeah, green beer—ugh—and a few
other green colored alcohols, which were much better than the beer, in my
humble opinion. Tis a grand time when we get together.
This year my son took his girlfriend of nine months to the
gathering. They loved her and she fits in because she looks like a Celtic
fairy. Well, she’s also a good kid and fun. She thinks my “family is amazing”
(I really like this kid). We’re an affectionate bunch. We hug and give
kisses—a lot. I think it was a bit of a surprise for her to see even my
brothers hugging each other and handing out kisses to the cheek. We've always
been that way. I love being on the receiving end of hugs and kisses. This year
was special because I was so sick last year and although they only live 45
minutes away, this was the first time I had seen most of them in a year. This
was unusual as I’m more often than not down visiting at least twice a month. So
I had lots of hugs to catch up on.
At any given, conversations run the gamut of family gossip
(a favorite pastime), politics, conservation issues, books, and music. Visitors
are sure to find a topic of interest under discussion. Mostly, it’s a relaxing
and fun time.
My family is special to me. They’ve been the constant in my
life as we bee-bopped around the country with Dad’s job. We fuss and argue—what
family doesn’t? It usually doesn’t last
long and not much time goes by before someone throws a cookout or party and we
are able to come together and reconnect, renew, and take strength from being
together yet another year.
Slàinte (slawn-che)
- Did you do anything special over St. Patrick’s’ weekend?
