Irish Roots

Day 245. Year of Queens. Be kind. Stand up to bullies. Make a joyful noise. Give more than we take. Try to create beautiful art. Laugh in the face of bad news. Take one step in front of the other. Have a shot of Irish whiskey. Dance on the bar. Rock-n-roll is too much fun.

Year of Queens. Day 246. Jumping for joy. Just trying to reach up and touch that magic in the air around us.

Day 247. Year of Queens. My uncle Terrence was a train driver in England. He married my Dad’s younger sister Auntie Mary. Before they had kids they took me and my brother for a drive around Yorkshire. I was 5 and my brother was 7. Uncle Terrence sang the whole afternoon. Two songs - and he kept making up new verses to entertain us. I’m not sure we ever got to where we were heading. Anyway - this afternoon has stayed in my memory and my brother’s memory. We still remember the songs. Jim did some research to figure out what uncle Terrence was singing - an English musical hall song and Woody Guthrie. I told my daughter this story and she asked me to sing those songs. I did. Then she laughed and she said every song I made up and sang to them as babies was just variants of those two songs.

Day 250. Year of Queens. The world is so much more magical than you see.

Year of Queens. Day 251. My name is John Patrick Francis Kennedy. I did the DNA testing thing with my Dad when he turned 75. We’re Kennedy’s - which is a name from Southern Ireland. Kennedy means “ugly head” - a mistranslation. The original Kennedy was the muscle for Brian Boru, first high king of Ireland, and he wore a horrific helmet into battle. Anyway, me and Dad tried out the dna testing. Our dna had most matches in Dublin and Galway. So Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Remember if you drink Jamesons and Guinness you’ll never get a hangover.

Year of Queens. I like Irish music because it’s supposed to be played by a drunken gang of delinquents - just for our own entertainment. And maybe for our friends at the bar too. And maybe you’ll see us and maybe you’ll dance around and maybe you’ll make out with someone in the corner of the bar and maybe you’ll get your heart broken and maybe you’ll wake up with a hangover and maybe you’ll remember that night for the rest of your life.