The way we celebrate St. Patty's Day...

I know I may not look it, but I am 25% Irish. That Irish blood is really important to me because it comes from my Grandma Mary. My grandmother was one of the strongest woman I know, and my mother has many of her wonderful traits, and perhaps a bit of the Irish temper my grandmother was legendary for. Both my mom and her mom were loyal to the people that they loved, and they were/are women that live their lives with zest and passion for what they adore. I love that about them. Even though I was four when my grandmother passed away, I can still remember the leprechaun pins she got for us, where you would pull the string and the legs would kick out so the pin looked like it was doing a jig. That was another phrase she loved to use, a jig as she would dance with us in circles around our family room floor. My grandmother touched my life in a pivotal way, not only for the memories she built with me in that short time period, but in the woman she left behind to care for me. For that reason, I embrace my Irish heritage and I plan on having my sons embrace it as well. My grandmother came over from Ireland when she was a young girl, and one day, probably when I am gray, I hope to return to her native land.

Until then, I always wear green on St Patrick's Day. I also love to sport my novelty socks for the occasion:

We make specialty items like Sheppard's pie:

And Shamrock cutout cookies:

Some of us take naps swaddled in green:

While others ride green dinosaurs while proudly wearing their heritage across their chest:

But of all the ways we'll celebrate today, my favorite will be in reflecting on my Grandma Mary, and the way she celebrated life and took it all in with her pretty green-blue Irish eyes.