Saint Patrick's Day & Cancer-Not

Well, March is marching on and Saint Patrick's day has been and is gone. The festivities were brightened by a nice day in Louisburgh and were kept in check by my parenting duties. Anna and our nephew, Caoimhin, carried some of the gifts up to the priest as part of the mass. My mother's house in in the centre of the town, I like to call it the financial district or the "West End", across from the parochial hall and this affords us a prime viewing location with occasional hot tea and coffee available from the kitchen of my childhood.

The parade was impressive . Some locals noted that the "yanks" (a contingent of current  students from Duluth Minnesota who come here every year for more than 20 years) had not taken part in the parade. "The American Students are always in the parade." So, no news yet on why their absence was a fact.

Many (including family members) went "up-the-town" for a few and the reports were very positive. It seems this is a day for family outings with kids running, climbing, singing, shouting, crying, laughing, sobbing, fighting, making up, etc... in the local pubs. I didn't indulge. Perhaps next year or ......

It was nice to be home for Saint Patrick's day. Last year my friends sent a photograph on the mobile to Anna (my phone is an antique) of my family at the front door enjoying the parade without us. Such is life.

Included in Saint Patrick's day this year was a little concern for a family member which I can now report was unfounded, thankfully. Also my mother was in bed with a cold/throat infection. She has recovered. My brother, who is a couple of years older than me, was scheduled for an exploratory procedure the day after Saint Patrick's day in Saint Jame's Hospital in Dublin. This procedure would discover that his throat was not infected by cancerous cells which was the worry.

So, really, the day after Saint Patrick's Day in 2010 was a great day. I travelled to Dublin and waited to hear that Basil got the all-clear, and 6 weeks of worrying, for the family, was unfounded and over. A day after Saint Patrick's to remember! Of course the 5 hours hanging around a hospital always gives rise to sobering thoughts.

Enjoy life!

What is there to not enjoy? Happy day to you.