Every year our family celebrates St. Patrick's Day. It is one of our favorite holidays, and I have written about it on this blog for nine years. My husband especially loved the holiday mainly because he liked corned beef and cabbage and there were none of the pressures associated with a holiday like Christmas. He passed away last summer, but since he loved it so much we wanted to honor him by continuing the tradition.
I prepared fifteen pounds of corned beef and two racks of barbecued ribs along with a lot of sides and sweets, but nothing ever goes completely as planned. The day of our dinner, my oldest daughter called. Her husband and oldest son had a stomach virus, Neither of them were even able to get out of bed. We knew this virus was going around but no one had gotten it yet. Since they didn't want to spread it to the rest of us, none of them came. Suddenly half of our group would be missing. Despite missing everyone, we had a great time and a lot of leftovers which were enjoyed later.
Our leprechaun named Shamus had started to move back into his summer home. He is a tricky little guy, but some new household items appeared in his house so we knew he was in the area. His home needs a little upgrading before he moves in permanently. It will be exciting to see what he does with the place. Just search for St. Patrick's Day in the search bar if you want to follow the hunt for Shamus over the years.
My grandson Ewan made a beautiful Leprechaun cake. He is always up for a challenge and this definitely was that. He posted the process on his YouTube channel Old Time Skills. Leprechaun Cake
It was a nice day, but the next day or two, the virus hit again. Two more members of the family got sick even though they had no contact with the others.
Five days later it seemed that everyone was feeling good and on track. I had planned a short Spring break trip to Florida with my family. It had been a long winter, and we were looking forward to a little warmth and sunshine. Six of us headed to the airport, we went through security and were waiting at our gate. Then it happened. The virus hit again. Another person got sick. This time it was my thirteen year old grandson. There was no way he could fly. My daughter cancelled their tickets and took him back home leaving me with a 17 year old, a 21 year old and my son-in-law. My daughter had planned to take another flight the next day. It didn't happen. It was impossible to make connections and still have time in Florida. We were left with an odd group of people, but it still turned out well for me. I'm not sure how two young adults and my son-in-law felt about spending that much time with grandma. I got to visit with some very good friends I hadn't seen in a long time. That was very special. We ate at some fun restaurants. They ordered alligator, fried green tomatoes and hush puppies to name a few. I even branched out a little.
We also spent some time at the beach. Our house was just a short walk away. It was a full moon during our time there, and so beautiful to see it rising.
It wasn't the vacation any of them had planned, but I really appreciate that they included me. If I didn't want to do some things, they understood. One day they went to the Kennedy Space Center, and I stayed back to explore a bit.
I am now home and back to reality. Spring is on it's way to Wisconsin, but it isn't here quite yet. The temperatures are slowly rising, the grass is turning green and the ice is gone, making room for the migrating ducks. It is truly a rebirth. Everyone is back in good shape. The strange part of the virus is that it hit all the men in the family. Six in all but none of the girls. 2022 will be a spring to remember.
