St. Patrick's Day through the years

As you may have guessed (the name, the hair color, the freckles, the penchant for storytelling and fondness for drink), I come from an Irish-American family. In fact, I'm a dual citizen. St. Patrick's Day has always been a pretty big deal for me. (Here's a bio on the patron saint himself.) When I was a kid, we dyed everything that would absorb food coloring green (bagels, pancakes, milk, yogurt), listened to Irish music (my mom used to play piano and sing "Black Velvet Band"), and ate a traditional corned beef and cabbage boiled dinner. Then came college. I went to Notre Dame, so you can probably imagine what that was like.

Then came the year I found out that St. Patrick's Day is not that important to most people. I was in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua, and was thrilled to find out that a sole Irish pub had opened in Managua, complete with Irish owners who imported Guinness from Ireland. My Peace Corps friends and I made plans to meet up to celebrate. We were all staying in the same dingy hostel, and after eating breakfast, I put on a silly green outfit and found my friends in the lobby. "Okay! Let's go." They all looked confused, and announced their plans to go shopping, see a movie, stop by the office, etc..."But, ...but,... you guys said you wanted to go out for St. Patrick's Day?!" I asked, dumbfounded. "Um, we thought you meant at night." Apparently they were not aware of the fact that St. Patrick's Day is an All Day Drinking Event. My friend Kara must have noted the disappointment on my face and took pity on me, agreeing to go to the bar with me. I was expected the place to be packed; by the time we got there, it was already a couple of hours past noon. We walk in, and find the place empty, except for a lone Irish traveler sitting at the bar. His face lit up...Guinnesses all around! Kara and I proceeded to drink delicious Guinness for the rest of the afternoon, and the rest of our friends finally did show up, but by that point we were about done for the night.

Five years ago, I moved to Southie, and for the last four, I've been living right on the parade route. So, it's basically a requirement to throw a huge party every year. They've all somewhat blended together by now, but every year has its own special moments. Like the year my sister drank an entire bottle of whiskey and knocked over a platter of deviled eggs. Or the year an anonymous friend was spotted making out with a fireman in the hallway. Or the year we threw about 50 rolls of toilet paper off the back deck and into the trees. Or the year the guy I was dating broke my window. One of the most memorable years was the one when Eri wore this outfit. There was the year of Johnny B. Nasty (a local guy who got invited because he carried the kegs up the stairs, but he turned out to be really creepy) and the year my Peace Corps friends got into a fight with my grad school friends, as ridiculous as that sounds (Pacifists vs. Scientists?). Other than that, it's the same food, the same cheap beer, mostly the same people, and the same awesome Celtics jersey dress every year.

This year, four of my good friends from college are coming to visit. Yay!

Have a great St. Patrick's Day, everyone. Slainte!