Happy/Sad St. Patrick's Day...

      My father died in a car crash 10 years ago and it's on Saint Patrick's Day every year that I miss him most. If he were alive, he'd be out buying the largest bottles of green food coloring he could find and coloring his world. He'd create green beer, of course. And, combining his love for Ireland and Dr. Seuss, he'd make green eggs and ham for all comers.

      He was a history and genealogy buff who researched all of his 9 blood lines, including Cherokee, where he got his high cheekbones. But it was his Irish background, reflected in his mischievous blue Irish eyes, that most captivated him.

      He made sure four of his five children had Irish names--Stephen, Patrick, Timothy, Shannon (after the Irish river.)  I'm the exception. Leslie is of Scottish origin. He explained he picked it because:  1) it was his middle name; 2) he'd run across a Scottish poem, "Bonnie Leslie," with the line, "to see her is to love her, and love but her forever."

     So on this Saint Patrick's Day, I toast my late father with a green beer and a look at his collection of Irish limericks that made him laugh. Happy St. Pat's Day, Dad.

Comments

[Walter]

Dear Leslie,

I identified with your story. My Dad shares a birthday with your Dad and although he hasn't a drop of Irish blood in him, St Patrick's Day is always a bit special for us because it's his birthday too. I raise a tall glass (of ice water for me) as a toast to your Dad and mine. Thank God for our wonderful fathers and their great love for us, and we for them.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!