St. Pat’s Day 3-17-2024

“May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light,
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.”
~Irish Blessing

It’s a cool gray morning here on St. Patrick’s Day. I panicked one St. Patrick’s Day when I was in elementary school a hundred years or so ago. I hadn’t planned ahead. I looked in my closet and didn’t have anything green to wear. I ran into the kitchen, pleading for my mom to help me. She thought I was over-reacting, making me over-react even more when there didn’t seem to be any hope for it. Unless you were wearing SCREAMING green from head to toe, the kids would descend on you, pinching you until you died of it – or wanted to – according to me at whatever age I was.

I immediately became too ill to go to school – or so I said. My acting didn’t reap any good results with my mom. My tears didn’t help, either, as she told me that my fears weren’t logical. THAT fell on my deaf ears. I seriously considered running away, rather than walking to school as usual. I died a thousand deaths that morning.

Thankfully, I ran into one of my teachers in the school parking lot. I tearfully ran to her. She walked me into class, made a humongous four leaf clover for me to pin on my shirt, and thereby saved my life. (I know. I maybe should have tried out for the drama class.)

Ridiculous or not, my fears were real to me. The eight years I taught in elementary school I made SURE I had four leaf clovers ready for anyone coming into school on St. Pat’s Day, just in case someone needed one. I didn’t tolerate anyone threatening anyone else, for the lack of something green, or any other reason.

I STILL found myself looking for something green to wear this morning (I’m wearing a green shirt and I have on green butterfly earrings) even though we’re not even due to go out today. I’m certainly not worried that my husband will pinch me cruelly. He is oblivious to holidays. If anyone DID threaten me, I’m not as helpless as I used to feel…

“There are only two kinds of people in the world, The Irish and those who wish they were.” ~ Unknown