Got My Irish Up!

I begin this post with a confession.

I'm not Irish.

Not a drop.

In fact, I'm German-Italian.

But yes, I'm going to write about how much I love St. Patrick's Day anyways.

You see, it's sort of a "national holiday" for my friends and me.

And, as funny as this sounds, it's not entirely about the alcohol.

You see, about 14 years ago, I was lucky enough to fall in with a group of guys, who really take the day seriously.

I once asked the ringleader (a full-blooded Italian) why St. Patrick's Day was such a big deal to him.

This was his answer:

"Well, I consider St. Patrick's Day to be my Christmas. Why? My family ruins all the other holidays. My grandpa would come over to the house with my uncles and aunts for Christmas (or Thanksgiving) dinner, and the night would always end with people arguing. So, St. Patrick's Day became my day to get our of the house with my friends. My day to celebrate. My Christmas."

That was good enough for me.

Not to mention the fact that my small group of friends can make you laugh. And laugh a lot.

So, St. Patrick's Day ultimately became more about a group of guys getting together for the day, and just laughing at everything.

Along the way, the holidays has taken us close to home (Akron), but also to places like Chicago, Savannah, and New Orleans (twice).

We've also managed to incorporate Halloween into the day as well. It started off with matching bowling shirts and t-shirts on the road trips. Then, one year, the tradition involved vintage green tuxedos with puffy shirts underneath.

Now, we've all gone to green suits. Accented, of course, with beads, candy necklaces, and small, plastic beer mugs for the hourly shot of beer ... a horrible, horrible tradition that has somehow survived.

There's always an itinerary, and there's never any trouble.

And the stories are now stuff of legend.

From the year the newly unemployed guys in the group staggered into a "free" lunch with former co-workers, to the time the poor Lebanese-American club chose to rent out a back room of the Tangier on this day (the baklava was delish.)

On the road, there was one guy in the group who took advantage of a sign held by a homeless woman saying "Will take verbal abuse for spare change."

There was the high roller who laughed so hard with us at the craps table, he gave us $1,500 as a tip.

There was the ringleader, suddenly deciding it would be a good idea to ride a motorized scooter around the bar.

And, there was the time the jukebox cut out, and three of us led another bar in an a cappella version of "Tainted Love."

There was "Shootah", and "United Way", the "Michigan girls" and "Lucky."

And now, as we've gotten older, it's been more and more difficult to get the group together ... even on this holiday of holidays.

So, every year we pull it off becomes a little more special.

This year, because of an impending birth, our holiday will take us to Louisville, Kentucky.

The group will be smaller because of the travel involved, but it's also exciting to be taking our show on the road again.

So, think of me tomorrow wherever you are, no matter if you're Irish, or some other nationality. Even if you're not celebrating the holiday like we do.

And, I'll make sure to raise a toast to everyone who makes my life a little bit better.