Ireland, I am coming home.

Anyone else out there a huge Garth Brooks fan?! Well I am. Troy isn’t. I know!!! I don’t understand it either. I have so many favorite songs. The Dance makes me bawl. Shameless is romance on fire. Rodeo makes me want to be a cowboy. It’s Your Song…oh my. I could seriously list them all and have reasons for loving each one. The first time I heard Ireland from his Fresh Horses album, it was like he wrote it for me. Ireland has been home since I was five years old. My parents tracked across the United States and over the Atlantic Ocean with four kids in tow to show us where our family came from. We had no money. Literally ate PB and J’s everyday. Borrowed a car from a cousin. And had the time of our lives. Ireland gets into your soul.

My parent’s main purpose for going was to meet cousins and do geneology. The most wonderful result is that now three generations of our family are uniquely tied to this beautiful place. Madison’s godmother is named Niamh. No I will not tell you how to pronouce it. You just get to guess. Bridger is sung to sleep each night with Irish Drinking songs. Derek’s kids all have Irish names. Ryan’s kids had their picture taken at the Grianan of Aileach and it inspired a water color that hangs on my parents wall. Nick is loved beyond measure in Carndonagh and is just at home there as he is in Carnation. The roots run deep.

*please excuse the pictures. they are pictures of slides. And ps it was 1986!*

Creating roots and nuturing them for ourselves and our children has to be one of the most important things we can focus on. It gives us purpose. It gives us a sense of belonging. It gives us something to cling to when tragedy strikes. There are so many ways to accomplish this and finding your way is the fun part. Whether it’s spending your summers in the grave yards of Donegal Ireland or dirt biking on trails in Eastern Washington. Traditions create roots. They take hold and bond us together.

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