WE HAD DREAMS AND SONGS TO SING

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY !!

There aren't many days when my mind doesn't wander for a little while to the island where my heart belongs. Today, especially, I am thinking of Ireland and the two dear people that I left there.

My parents brought my three brothers over to England, seeking a better life for their family, two years before I was born. My brothers never let me forget that I was the only one of our family not born in Ireland, only in a jokey way, besides all this I have always felt that I am Irish and because of my parentage I am legally allowed to class myself as an Irish citizen!

Mum and Dad always wanted to return to live in Ireland but the arrival of Grandchildren and everyday life never gave them the opportunity to do so. Back in June 2003 my family and I suffered a devastating fire in our cottage which resulted in us having to move out for six months for our home to be put back together. Luckily we weren't home at the time, our lovely Lab/Retriever was in the cottage but was unhurt (thankfully).  My oldest brother had booked a holiday to Ireland with my Mum and Dad in the August, he then kindly asked me if I would like to go with them. It was such a wonderful time, seeing where they grew up, courted and their first homes together. Dad even at the age of 87 and not having lived in Limerick for so many years, knew every turn in the road!  It was like he had never been away!   I so enjoyed seeing them quickly relax into the life they knew and loved so much. For me this was such an amazing time, made all the more poignant in the fact that a year later, August 2004, we sadly lost them both.  This trip, I feel, was meant to be. Mum and Dad finally went home and I know are at peace in the land that they loved.

On a lighter note, we won the Six Nations, oh yeah!   Dad would love that!

Dad outside his old barracks in Ireland

TTFN Annemarie xxxx