Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Hi everybody! Hope things are well with you guys. Well, I guess in order to understand what this holiday means to me you have to know a bit about my family.

My dad's side is Irish Catholic. (Mostly Celtic in origin, so Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.) Mom's side is Jewish. (Russian, Romanian, Belarussian, and German.) My mom's sister Basha had just become an Orthodox Jew when my mom was about to marry my dad. She told my mother it wasn't what G-d wanted and that she was making a big mistake. So, Basha stopped talking to my mom for 10 years after the wedding. My dad's parents were very set on him marrying a Catholic girl, especially because he was the youngest of 4. His parents never showed up to the wedding. Also, they would send my dad Mass cards and never mention my mom. My grandma finally gave in that maybe my mom and I weren't devils after all and the only time she visited me was when I was 2 and almost on her deathbed. Other family members were mostly tolerant of each other but didn't talk much to each other. My living grandparents on my mom's side were very accepting. I think they were the most accepting of anyone in the family. In fact, my dad calls them Mom and Dad.

The funny thing about all this is I'm technically an Irish Jew. I think it's cool! I said technically because (according to both old traditions) the mother has to be Jewish in order to be considered a Jew. The father according to Celtic traditions has to have Celtic roots in order to pass it on to the next generation.

So, to me it's a special holiday. Kind of a remember you're Irish kind of thing. We usually have corned beef, potatoes, cabbage, and soda bread for our special dinner. It's always soooo tasty! If you haven't tried soda bread, I think you should. It takes some getting used to, but tastes awesome! Oh, and my dad gets to have his Guinness. wink This year we're having the dinner tonight, because on Tuesday there's a Haddassah event. We get to sing with other Jewish women this time. Again, kind of ironic for me. ^_^ Hope everyone has a great time or at least does something fun that day.