It's that day! But I don't own anything green.
Yesterday I went to get my hair done and the lady next to me was not an American. Discussion abound in different cultures but what hit me most is that she clearly has already recognized that the majority of Americans have no cultural roots. We have become such a melting pot that we are the Heinz 57 of people.
It resounded in me and it makes me momentarily sad.
I'm Irish enough that I can say that I AM Irish. But I have no cultural background or traditions that tie me to my heritage. The only exception is I love corn beef (not cabbage), have a strong liver and watch "The Quiet Man" on March 17th.
My ex was first born American. The native tongue of Dutch was continually spoken in his household everyday. But no matter how many times I asked or begged he would not share his language with his children. That makes me sad.
He (I, we) had a great mom (who eventually accepted me) but we spent so little time with her. The few memories belong to Steve but none to Brooke. Actually Brooke has never met her grandfather. That is another story but none the less not without a loss.
Steve is becoming enmessed with his finance's family who are true blood Texans. He actually watches football now. I like this.
My uncle is Polish/Croatian. A lot of tradition there from food, dance holidays. It's comforting to be around some of those things.
I guess my round about point in this is we are created for relationship. For whole ness. For belonging. And one thing that helps is to celebrate who we really are and not let go of our differences just to fit in or be politically correct.
Dance on people. In a little Irish jig.
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