March 17th

This has always been one of my favorite holidays, I love everything about the day except for the stereotypes. People of Irish ancestry do have a penchant and unusual tolerance for alcohol, it's true. That doesn't mean we all get tossed on St. Patrick's day...quite frankly we could do that any day we chose. We also have a knack for storytelling...the Craic as it's referred to in Gaelic. Irish monks kept the written word alive during the dark ages as a matter of fact. Irish Americans can count among our ranks many distinguished contributors to American structure and culture including 6 members of the Constitutional Congress, 8 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 21 Presidents and 9 Supreme Court Justices. We claim Walt Disney, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allen Poe, Georgia O'Keefe,  Bill Murray, Dennis Leary, Judy Garland and Bing Crosby and 9 inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame to name a few cultural icons. Countless, nameless immigrants over the last 150 years built the roads, canals, bridges and railroads we still travel on. We nannied the children, staffed the hotels and cleaned the homes of the elite of society. We became policemen (prompting the nickname coppers) and firemen and we suffered discrimination. During the 19th century there were signs posted stating "no dogs and no Irish" throughout many communities. We have a unique relationship with Death as loss is woven into the fiber of our DNA but we survive. Famine, coffin ships, indentured servitude, war and disease can't remove us from this Earth. We have as our symbol the Claddagh which signifies friendship, love and loyalty. Loyalty being one of our most outstanding traits and we are fiercely proud of where we come from because if you're lucky enough to Irish then you're lucky enough. We love our families, and protect our kin with iron clad tenacity.  I have special reason to love the holiday more because not only am I of Irish descent but it's also the day my first child, a son, was born.  Today is the day I became a mother, an Irish one no less. This means I yell, I laugh, I worry, I guard what's mine and work hard every day to give my children better than what I had. Not so different than any other group you might say. True I say...but people of Irish heritage do it with a charm and flair all our own. There's a reason the world want's to be Irish for a day and it isn't just for green beer. We invite you to celebrate with us on the 17th of March but please leave your drunken leprechauns at home.