Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Whether you have Irish in your blood or not, it’s always fun to wear green on St. Paddy’s Day. Not that I think anybody should get pinched for not wearing green. I don’t think that was a thing when I was a kid, and not a thing I’d want anyway. We’ll just leave the pinching off and have some fun with Irish blessings and sayings.
May you always have walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain, tea by the fire,
Laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
and all your heart might desire.
My mother liked to think she had some Irish in her, partly because her birthday was the day before St. Patrick’s Day. She always put on the green to celebrate. Here she is on her honeymoon. I don’t know what color her dress is, but we can imagine it is green, although brown was always her favorite color to wear.
She was 19 when she married. She was an amazing woman and the best mother and friend I could have had. I was surely blessed with her on my side in life. Here we are probably celebrating someone’s birthday. I have on green. So maybe it was Mom’s birthday at my house, but since Mom doesn’t have on green, it probably wasn’t St. Patrick’s Day. I can almost remember being that young and having hair that color. 🙂
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.
The next Irish saying is one that always makes me smile.
As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never point in the wrong direction. (Irish saying)
But sometimes those splinters in the banister of life are pointing in the wrong direction. They were in my mother’s last few years. She had dementia and went through some unhappy times as her memory failed her. She had always wanted to live to be 100. She came up short by six years, but I don’t think she would have wanted to spend six more years in her unhappy memory fog.
Some of you walked with me on the journey back a few years ago when my siser and I were taking are of her and I shared posts about what was happening with her and with us. It’s a sad time when your mother loses those memories that keep you fresh in her mind. She would remember us as children or remember herself as a child. So, there was no way she could have adult daughters.
But there were still good times when she could laugh. After she fell and broke her hip, she had to go to the nursing home for rehab. The therapists there were the best as they helped get her back on her feet and walking. The following picture is one of my good memories of her therapy treatments while at the nursing facility. I had to go be with her or she wouldn’t do the therapy. So, I got to be in on the exercises. Sometimes she’d tell me to do them!
But this one she did on her own. They were working on her balance by letting her sit on a ball and bounce. Mom could sometimes be irrepresible and she started bouncing on that ball as though she was a kid on a pony. She started laughing and we couldn’t keep from joining in. You know, laughter beats tears every time.
So happy heavenly birthday to my mom one day late and happy St. Patrick’s Day to all of you.
May God give you, for every storm, a rainbow, for every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise and a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share,
For every sign a sweet song, and an answer for each prayer.
Did you wear green today?
Comments 11
I did wear green on the 17th, but it was just what I had handy to put on, not really something I planned. Your mother seemed to be a lot of fun, I hope she had a great heavenly birthday.
I wore green to church. I asked my friend if she had on green and she told me yes, but it was where you couldn’t see it. Did she or didn’t she???
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I guess that’s something no one could know but her, Paula. But maybe she was ready with that story to keep thoughts of anybody pinching her away. LOL.
Great pictures! I forgot to wear green yesterday. I visited my friends at Appalachian Ministries near Zoe, Ky and didn’t remember it was St Patricks Day til I arrived.
My mother and grandmother always wore green on March 17th. Green was my Mamaw’s favorite color, probably because of our Irish roots and her green eyes.
Thanks for sharing memories of your mom. Losing a mother is one of the hardest times. We laid my mom to rest four years ago today. It’s good to have the fun memories on sad days.
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I’ve always liked wearing green because I thought it made my eyes look a little green. Always wanted green eyes. Funny though now I don’t have hardly anything green. I had to pull out that old turtleneck to have anything green Sunday.
I sometimes give my characters green eyes now. Tori in my Rosey Corner stories had beautiful green eyes.
I hope your memories of your mother were good ones as you thought about her today. I miss talking to my mother.
I did not wear green yesterday. Thank you for sharing memories of your wonderful mother with us. When they leave us, I think a part of our heart goes with them. When I looked at the photo of your mother bouncing on the ball, I saw you. You look a lot like your Mom. Everyone says I do too. Happy Heavenly Birthday to all our Mothers that are no longer with us.
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We do always miss our mothers, Pam. I hope if I ever have to have therapy like she did that I will be able to laugh.
I always wanted to look like Mom, but that isn’t something I’ve been told much. So thanks.
I did wear green even though I don’t have a drop of Irish blood. But our wedding anniversary (57) is on the 18th and our second son was our third anniversary gift!😊🍀
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Happy anniversary, Bonnie! Hope it was a good one, and how neat that you have a son born on your anniversary date. That makes it doubly special.
I don’t think we have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. 🙂
Didn’t wear green, but sure did in elem school or you would get pinched! Great post and pics. Thanks for sharing. Losing our Moms is so hard. Still miss mine and my MIL who lived to be 104. She did have Alzheimer’s her last two years, but always knew us. Still played dominoes to the very end and was my example of a Proverbs 31 woman. There was a sweet lady in our church who had a little party when she was 90. I told her then my MIL was aiming for 100 and she sweetly responded, “ Oh I don’t want to live to be 100- I am ready whenever the Lord takes me. I already have my yellow dress hanging in my closet! Aren’t good family memories the best! Loved your pics.
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Thanks for sharing about your mother and mother-in-law, Jeanne. Sounds as if you were doubly blessed. Sometimes after my mother’s memory faded, I would play matching cards or highest card with her. She couldn’t play like she used to but she did enjoy having the cards in her hand. I suppose we all need to be like your church friend and have that attitude to be ready whenever it is our time, but I have to confess. I don’t have my dress picked out in my closet yet. 🙂
Glad you liked the pictures.