St. Patrick's Day

What does St. Patrick's Day mean to you?

Is it just a day to wear green and enjoy a shamrock shake?

To me and my family, it was more than that. It was my brother's birthday.

We would wake up to find our milk had turned green, which I'm sure the older kids didn't appreciate as much as D and I did. They probably appreciated it as much as my husband does now.

He's a sport, though. Our milk has turned green for 14 St. Patrick's Days and he doesn't cry. But, he does avoid cereal and milk with his supper. . .

Sometimes, it meant green oatmeal for breakfast, but Lucky Charms mostly.

This morning, my kids were super excited to have that Irish delicacy for breakfast. We don't let them eat sugar cereal anymore, so, I think they were more excited about the sugar, probably, than about the Irish-ness of their cereal. (Hey, there's a leprechaun on the box, doesn't that make it Irish?!)

For dinner, we would have Irish Stew (which I'm not quite sure how that was different than regular stew - maybe my mom just thought she could throw Irish in front of anything and make it St. Patrick's Day worthy), or corned beef and cabbage, or green mashed potatoes.

Tonight, we are having reuben casserole. I know, I know, it's probably more German than Irish. But, it's as close to corned beef and cabbage as I get.

Sauerkraut is cabbage, you know.

I'm sure there were downfalls to having a birthday on St. Patrick's Day. Like, your decorations are always green. And, you always have to share your birthday with a holiday. But, you could just pretend that everyone was wearing green for your birthday, right? Besides, who really wants to eat cabbage on their birthday? And, I'm sure there's always pressure to really be Irish, have an Irish name, or speak with an Irish accent when your birthday is on March 17.

Oh well.

Happy Birthday to my brother, I love ya! And, thanks Mom for always making St. Patrick's Day, er, . . . uh, . . . D's birthday very special!