Though I was not born in Ireland (nor were my parents or grandparents) I am 100% Irish as far as we know. Although I could have been a honeymoon baby for my parents years ago (and thus, an Irish Import) I was not, alas, conceived in the small country. One of my brothers (Patrick) was born on St. Patrick’s day. Each year we would dress up in our best green plastic over-sized glasses and thin plastic hats, put on our shamrock socks and kelly green clown neckties and head to school or the parade depending on where St. Pat’s day fell that year. It was a celebration. Corned beef and cabbage was common, potatoes were a must, and Irish stout entered the picture as we got older.
I was fortunate to spend a semester in Ireland studying, and I now know that the Irish don’t wear plastic green items year round nor do they necessarily wear much non-plastic green with any regularity (though they were fervent consumers of stout while I was there). I’m American Irish. I wear the green plastic stuff 1 day out of the year and enjoy every second of it. Some of my fondest memories as a child are from the St. Pat’s day parade. In fact, if no one died or got married in any given year I’d be sure to see a number of relatives at the parade.
This past St. Pat’s day my nephew, Oliver, experienced his first parade in what I’m sure will be a continuing tradition. My wife (who is German/Irish) recently told me that she really wanted to take our son to his first St. Pat’s day parade (1000 miles away). My wife didn’t necessarily grow up with a perceived cultural leaning like I did. She didn’t go to Oktoberfest or overindulge in sauerkraut. She’s found something valuable in my families American Irish traditions and wants to continue them… and I’m so fond of partying that I’m researching ways to adopt her German roots and celebrate twice a year!
Heritage is important. It leads and guides you to those who came before you and likely to a little knowledge about yourself. This Thursday I’ll be exploring two recent personal examples on the father’s blog. My aunt and grandmother-in-law both, within the past week, sent my wife and I information about our respective ancestors’ histories.
A parting question: What do you do to celebrate your roots?