How do you start your first blog? How do you start the trip of a lifetime? In this case they both start the same way...a bit of music, the influence of ancestors and just maybe a wee drop or two of the "pure" (Tully 12 being my first choice). The influence of my maternal grandmother, even though she passed when I was only 7, and my mother keeping that spirit going; family friends' stories of the "auld sod" and the discovery of unknown papers telling of our family's journey from Ireland. These are the things which can start you to thinking. Well, these and three months of doing nothing after surgery. Amazing the trouble you can get into with nothing to do. I can see now that this is going to be really long but I hope not too boring for those who don't know me.
Every March I get a little melencholy near St. Paddy's Day as it was my grandmother's birthday and she was very proud of the fact that she and St. Patrick shared the date. My mother and I used to continue celebrating her birthday after she passed away until Mom joined her. It was always a special day. In March 2010 I was looking for some Celtic music and not having great success. I'd thought I'd found it in a group on PBS called Celtic Thunder...wrong! There wasn't anything (or so I thought at the time) about them that was Celtic other than the fact that they were from Ireland & Scotland. In fact, I could not understand how four of these gentlemen could stand in front of the Republic flag singing when three were from Northern Ireland and one was Scots! It just wasn't making sense. That's where the influence of generations gone by comes in. Children learn from their elders. I just always thought anyone from Northern Ireland was not Irish or not really Irish! I soon learned differently. Times change and (hopefully) people do also. After listening to more of their music I was soon a fan even holding tickets to a concert in November. Skip to May and looking at having surgery for a kidney tumor...not my choice of surgeries. Anyone who knows me knows I've had several orthopedic procedures, i.e. shoulder, spinal procedures, bilateral knee replacement and a few others. I was done with being cut on but when I was told by my hero, my internist, that I had an almost 7cm tumor and had to have surgery I was floored to say the least. With the help of Drs. S and B (people I trust implicitely) I located an amazing surgeon who worked her little fingers off in June removing the tumor in a six hour surgery and saving 60% of my kidney. I was so lucky! Everything went perfectly, I was home in three days and starting a very long (to me), slow and boring recovery. I was restricted to being able to do nothing for almost three months...I couldn't even water my roses and I had a new front yard full of them and temps in the 90+s. Boredom sends you to a computer that you don't understand but you start looking at things from your past and unknown to you, your future. I started looking around Ireland via Google earth and eventually the "fan site" for CT. I'd never been in a "chat room" before and was pretty apprehensive but finally took the dive into the "Pub" where I eventually met my future friend and travel mate. When we finally met in person it was as though we'd known each other for years and I'd never met anyone with love for a country like she possessed and she has not a drop of Irish blood in her! Her talk of Ireland and it's music and people really started me to thinking about the possibility of a trip in the future.
Cut to November. CT concerts, not one but two, thank you to those who made that possible. Then on to helping a great-great niece with information regarding her Great-great grandfather for a school project. In looking for pictures and information on my Dad I came across papers I never knew existed. They were about my Great-great grands who set sail from Cork with their family of five in 1847 and followed "a thread" to present day. There were also pictures of people that I have no clue who they are other than they have to be relatives but who? Now I'm really needing to find out more. Conversations have lead from going to Ireland some day to January when the discovery of unknown airline miles appeared and the rest has snowballed from there. We've gone from a three week trip to a full month (28 days to be exact). Two very long but exciting weekends making plans into the wee small hours of the morning and a couple of all day "skype" calls and things are almost all in place.
So there is the beginning of my journey. I'm not sure, in looking back, that the trip leading to the trip isn't as exciting as the actual vacation. I guess I'll find out in 82 days.
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