Erin Go Braugh: Happy Evacuation Day

On the phone with my Mom last night:

So what are you going to do tomorrow on your day off?

No Mom, I have to work.

Oh right, only Boston.

She lives in Boston. I do not.

St Patrick's Day in Boston is coincidentally (or not so coincidentally as most believe) also Evacuation Day. It is the day that the British evacuated from Boston Harbor. So on Evacuation Day, nobody works and EVERYBODY celebrates St Patrick's Day! When you grow up in Boston, St. Patrick's Day is not an option, it is a birth right.

There is a televised breakfast complete with Irish step dancing, songs, and roasts of local Boston politicians. There is a parade. Green beer. Crowds of people on the streets and in some of the oldest bars (or pubs) in the country. And everybody is dressed in green and happy.















I currently live in the Midwest. Today is still acknowledged but it's not the same. I am at work with a green shirt, green necklace, green cellphone, and scribbling notes with my green pen. But my heart is somewhere else today. (I wish I was here)



(Photo: St Patricks a few years ago. I think I was going for the kiss and he was going for the secret)



I know for most today is a reason to drink green beer but to me it's... well it's that, but it's more too. There is an X-factor. On this day each year I am filled with pride. Proud of where I came from. Proud that my background is so celebrated. proud that I am from a city so full of history and tradition.

So however you may celebrate today and for whatever reason,

May your blessings outnumber

the shamrocks that grow,

And may trouble avoid you,

wherever you go.

(source unknown)