Thursday Tidbits
Posted on March 18, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with no comments yet
One tough Irish woman. Three, actually!
The responses were predictable.
Just about everybody who replied to me publicly and privately said that the first thing they would do when the pandemic ended was to reunite with family near and far. For many people, this period of separation has been excruciating. Births, deaths, anniversaries and gatherings of all manner have been observed differently. You know things are bad when Zoom is your best friend.
If you think it’s been a long time since you’ve seen family or friends, consider the graduating class of the old Antigonish High School of 1970. We were the very last group to graduate from this school before the opening of a new, modern (windowless!) regional school. A group of us started planning a 50th reunion back in 2018. We planned to piggyback our event with the Antigonish Highland Games in 2020 but Covid-19 put an end to both of these events. For the second year in a row, we have had to postpone the get together and are currently polling class members to see if they still want us to put on the event in 2022… our 52nd reunion! The organizing committees big concern now is finding a nursing home large enough to host our event should we have to delay it much longer!
Call the Covid police.
I confess. Although it is not the law, public health agencies have warned Canadians to stay home and to avoid all but essential travel. I am usually a god-fearing, law abiding citizen, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Guilty as charged. I have taken many trips down memory lane over the past 12 months.
And what, pray tell, has led to these egregious transgressions? Nostalgia, mostly. It doesn’t take much to find myself pining for the past and wandering the hallways of my old school.
Monday, the 15th was The Ides of March. On this date in 44 BC, Julius Caesar was assassinated, a turning point in Roman history. “Et tu, Brute?” “You too, Brutus?” These words were uttered by Caesar at the moment of his assassination, to his friend Marcus Brutus, upon recognizing him as one of the assassins. Of course, we did a few Shakespearean plays in high school… my old high school. AHS. Veritas Vos Liberabit.
This particular date holds some significance to me as well. Sixteen years ago on this day, I had Lasix surgery on my eyes. It didn’t go well. There was an overcorrection which actually made my eyesight worse than it was. It put the kibosh to my golf career, but all was not lost. I discovered running and ended up completing a handful of marathons. Every March 15th, I call this my “Eyes of March”!
Of course, yesterday was St.Paddy’s Day. Can you imagine telling a person of Irish descent that they can’t celebrate? I wonder what a lockdown looks like on George Street in St.John’s, Newfoundland? My guess is that they found a way to celebrate! According to legend (and Google), St.Paddy’s Day started as religious celebration in the 17th century to commemorate the life of St.Patrick and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. March 17th was believed to be the anniversary of Patrick’s death in 461 AD.
Aren’t you glad you visit Week45 regularly to get all of these important tidbits of history?
My mother was Irish, an O’Flaherty from Montreal. So, to all my Irish brethren, I leave you with this exquisite quote from W.B Yeats, Irish poet, dramatist and prose writer: “Being Irish, he had an abiding sense of tragedy which sustained him through temporary periods of joy”.
Have a great weekend.
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