My grandfather was a proud Irish man. He had two framed pictures in his office, one said, “If the majority were right, the majority would be rich” and the other said “Irish need not apply”. The latter one was from a bygone time, when Irish people were discriminated against after first coming to this country.
My first memories of my grandfather were when he visited when I was a child, and he gave me a coat. Every day he was visiting, he told me to check my pocket. I checked and magically, every day there was a quarter in the pocket. My father kept up the charade for two weeks after my grandfather had left before he finally told me the coat wasn’t magical. I must have been bleeding him dry, one quarter at a time! Quarters add up!
I remember visiting him when he got older and went to live in my father’s house. I would visit him every weekend and go to church with him and my grandmother. A man of deep faith, he was a preacher, and it’s probably where my father and I’s public speaking skills originate. The one heirloom I have of his is his bible, a weathered, old, earmarked and highlighted bible that has been meticulously poured over. I keep it with my own bible given to me when I was 16, and a bible from my mother’s confirmation, right by my bedside. Now my bible isn’t poured over, highlighted or earmarked, in fact it still looks new, depsite being 30 years old. Everyday though, the first thing I do when I exit my bed, is put my right hand on the three bibles and thank God for another day.
I am writing all of this on St. Patrick’s Day, not only to honor my grandfather, but to tell the tale of the yearly email I used to get from him. Now, he wasn’t the most proficient with computers, I recall several times having to assist him with his, but every year, around 6 or 7 am, I would, without fail, receive the same email from my grandfather, the yearly email reminding me to wear green. So of course I put my green on today, and I hope you are wearing some too, in honor of an Irish person you know and cherish. I miss you, Elmer.
Look down on us and bless us.
Happy St, Patrick’s Day!!!~~~
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