MONDAY MUSINGS: When Scots Become Irish.

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?