Irish eyes are smiling

The Irish part of my soul positively soared on listening to the great tenor, the late Frank Patterson, at this time of St. Patrick's Day. From his heavenly voice came the sung legends directly from the Auld Sod, bringing the sweetest memories of a grandfather who could send one's emotions to the level of the very celestial address of the great patron saint of Ireland, Patrick himself.

This very day is the celebration of the shamrock, the green island so stirred in song and love of people. It also carries a reminder of the fabric of America, so interwoven by the immigrants who came to these shores from Galway Bay to Bangladesh and beyond. It has contributed to the great amalgam that is our proud country. Honest tears came in reliving the days and nights we would huddle together as a family with my younger brother's voice not as yet unmarred by the deepening of adolescence and I could hit the high notes at will (rhymes with "shrill").

We must remember, as legatees of all our countries of origin and their contributions to the solid nation we are and a people who recognize the diversity as a virtue. Our offspring must be taught early on, so that when they mature, their intermingling with various cultures and ways of believing are better understood in a spirit of peaceful tolerance. Color of the skin, creed of the mind and spirit, as well as points of origin are all part of the American place of freedom and equal opportunity.

God's riches are our bounty as we pay our annual homage to the priest who loved his adopted country enough to emerge as her patron saint. Such celebration need not be cramped by the boundaries of sect --- on Saint Paddy's Days, the whole world is Irish."

As to the remainder of this writer's lineage, I'll be happy to acknowledge the Germans and English who, with the Scots, contributed the mix of DNA that is me and my view of matters in this good, green earth. It is well to look backwards over our shoulders to the places from which our forbears made their great journey to enrich these foreign shores with curiosity and a sense of innovation, with a work ethic which has borne the fruits of liberty and happiness.