With the sound of Celtic music in the background and the aroma of a pot of corned beef simmering on the stove, St. Patrick's Day seems lively. While it's a family day of cooking, laundry, and having conversations with family and friends far away, I am thinking back on past St. Patrick's Day events.
I grew up in a neighborhood of families that were mostly Irish and Italian. The Catholic school I attended was filled with nuns who always celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Weeks before the event, my classmates and I were lined up learning Irish songs and dances. It was a lively and enjoyable ritual.
That was back then during my elementary school years. Now, I am surrounded once again by many Irish families in my community on Long Island. One of our parish priests commented about this at last night's Mass.
A wee bit of luck happened today. My husband decided to make the corned beef and cabbage and my daughter dialed us up on Google Hangout so we could talk with our grandbaby who is half-Irish. Dressed in my shamrock necklace that lights up, I enjoyed every minute of the conversation that included watching Sierra eat and play. I did get a wave by and a kiss.
I grew up in a neighborhood of families that were mostly Irish and Italian. The Catholic school I attended was filled with nuns who always celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Weeks before the event, my classmates and I were lined up learning Irish songs and dances. It was a lively and enjoyable ritual.
That was back then during my elementary school years. Now, I am surrounded once again by many Irish families in my community on Long Island. One of our parish priests commented about this at last night's Mass.
"Did you know (laughingly) that many of our parishioners are Irish? I hate to inform many of you whom are Irish but St. Patrick was not Irish by birth. He was brought to Ireland from England by raiders and sold into slavery. But St. Patrick returned to Ireland to convert the people."Many of us at Mass did not know these facts but nonetheless respect the fact that St. Patrick is revered as the patron saint of Ireland. Our town is well known for its cathedral, the St. Patrick's Day parade, and many restaurants near the Long Island Railroad stop. While I am not Irish, I enjoy celebrating this day with my town, family, and friends.
A wee bit of luck happened today. My husband decided to make the corned beef and cabbage and my daughter dialed us up on Google Hangout so we could talk with our grandbaby who is half-Irish. Dressed in my shamrock necklace that lights up, I enjoyed every minute of the conversation that included watching Sierra eat and play. I did get a wave by and a kiss.
Now I am off to check up on the corned beef and listen to When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. The following wonderful lines from the song remind me of Sierra's sweet smile.
When your sweet lilting laughter's
Like some fairy song.
And your eyes twinkle bright as can be
You should laugh all the while
And all other times smile,
And now, smile a smile for me.
☘☘☘
-a Then and Now slice-
Day 17of 31 days of writing
Day 17of 31 days of writing
March Slice of Life Story Challenge
How sweet you had your own little Irish smile today.
ReplyDeleteThe sweetest smile but I have another funny story that will be coming up in a future post.
DeleteYour post made me think of my elementary school years. I am Byzantine catholic. My first 8 years of school were at St. Canicus, the Irish catholic school. There was no Byzantine catholic school in our town. We had Irish, Polish, Italian, German, and Lithuanian. How I ended up in an Irish school I'll never know.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, Robert. What is a Byzantine Catholic. I never heard of that title?
DeleteI'm loving all the St. Patrick's tributes today. Yours is extra sweet since you got to talk to your granddaughter! I bet she loved your light-up shamrock necklace. :-)
ReplyDeleteSierra usually loves the necklaces I bring her. You would think they are gold the way she parades around the house in them. I think she may not have seen how the shamrock lit up and blinked while on the Google Hangout.
DeleteCorned beef and a smile from a grandbaby? Sounds like a fantastic St. Patrick's Day to me. Thanks for sharing a bit of your own connection to the day - makes it that much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteAmanda, it has been so nice connecting with you this past year and especially this month of slicing. My day ended with a final set of photos sent by my daughter. Sierra was sporting her new St. Patrick's Day barrettes my sister sent her while eating her corned beef and cabbage dinner.
DeleteSounds like a perfect day. Growing up in Oklahoma, all I ever worried about was being sure that I wore green. My son's (and daughter's) kindergarten teacher always had a leprechaun visit and do some mischief. It was fun to see their excitement over what had happened in their classroom.
ReplyDeleteI rounded off the day with traveling around the slices to gather 75 different perspectives on slicing. It was fun hearing from so many different people. Thanks for stopping by at my slice, Ramona.
DeleteJust beautiful, Carol. Family ties are so emphasized on this day - Irish or not! -as are childhood recollections. Fascinating to read. Your meal sounds delicious and I cannot think of words better chosen than those happy lyrics of love, or sweeter gesture of love than you wearing your light-up shamrock necklace.
ReplyDeleteFran, thank you for your comment. I guess I never closely looked at the "Irish eyes are smiling" song, just sang the chorus. The lyrics I chose are fitting for my little shamrock love.
ReplyDelete