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| St. Patrick's Day in Dublin Image via Wikipedia |
I remember the first day I even knew about Saint Patrick's Day. I went across the street to my neighbor's to get the school bus in first or second grade. They were a large Irish family, my best friends really. I was not wearing green and heard about it. But the holiday ended when they got off at the Catholic school. I don't think we learned about holidays until later, maybe third or fourth grade. By the time I was in college, traditions had spread more. We had green bagels on Saint Patrick's day at SUNY Albany (a disgusting idea).
Back in the early 1960s, non-national holidays celebrated by particular ethnicities where largely still traditionally held by those ethnicities. Even when I was a teen, an Episcopalian or Presbyterian friend's family still attended Whitsunday mass. We were Italian and Greek and therefore did not celebrate Saint Patrick's Day. My Italian-American Mom went to an "un-Sainted" church, Christ the King, I guess it was ethnically ecumenical.
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| The Chicago River dyed green for Saint Patrick's Day Image via Wikipedi |
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| St. Patrick's Day in Boston Image via Wikipedia |
Churches then were still, in cities in particular, attended by ethnic populations and were named in French (like Sacre Coeur) or had an Irish or Italian saint's name. Saint Mary's would be Irish and Santa Maria would be Italian. Back then in upstate New York we did not have churches with names in Spanish. To attend a Spanish mass as a cultural experience for Spanish majors in High School we had to go downtown to the cathedral.
Life then was devoid of the kind of information access we take for granted today. If you didn't know something and the people living with you didn't know it and the family did not own an encyclopaedia you waited until school or for the library to open to find out. We didn't know much about what was happening in other cities, there were no webcams. You had the newspaper, the news (twice a day) and heaven forbid, if something terrible happened, the dreaded special report. Television only had three to five channels!
So, today is Saint Patrick's Day. I am making a special birthday dinner for my BFF and my husband. And, once again, I was clueless and completely forgot it was Saint Patrick's day every March 17. I am making an Italian Bracciole (A stuffed rolled roast cooked a long time in pomodoro), and my first from scratch gluten free birthday cake with a ganache frosting. As an adult, my best girlfriend is also Irish from a big family. I look forward to seeing if she wears green. Maybe I will!
