“That the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn; that they in their turn might tell it to their children.” – Psalm 78:6
Everybody seems to claim being just a wee bit Irish on Saint Patrick’s Day. Wonder why that is? Maybe it has to do with the revelry that takes place, a tradition rooted in, of course, celebrating the patron saint who brought Christianity to Ireland, later carried on in America in the old neighborhoods and communities where Irish immigrants first settled generations ago. When everyone saw how much fun the Irish were having they decided to crash the party, joining the parades, pub crawls, and wearing-of-the-green.
For me, the claim is true. My paternal grandmother, who we called Munna, was born in Ireland on July 14, 1889, the second child of my great-grandparents Robert and Nancy Boyle, who migrated to America only a few months after her birth, where they had acquired some land in northern Texas and established a sheep ranch. And it was in that North Texas community of Vernon, Texas where my grandmother married and lived out her long life. So, yes, I am indeed a wee bit Irish myself.
I never knew my great-grandparents. They had died long before my time. But I do know enough about them to feel a connection to my roots. For instance, I have pictures of them hanging in our home amongst a cluster of other family photos, and every morning I spend time sitting in an old rocking chair that belonged to my great-grandfather where I am told he sat and read his King James Bible, which I also inherited. Though generations removed, his life has nonetheless influenced my own in some meaningful ways.
And perhaps that is the real, deeper reason everybody wants to claim being just a wee bit Irish each year, our human desire to have roots and feel connected to history in a way that guides our lives in meaningful ways and that will guide our children and our children’s children. Or as the Psalmist says, “that the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn; that they in turn might tell it to their children.”
I do not know what motivated my great-grandparents to relocate to America, except for a dream of better opportunities and a better life for themselves and their children. It’s a dream we should all have, so our children too have roots that will guide their lives.
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