Completely Random

First thing's first.



Tommy Makem passed away yesterday. I'd be a bad Irish girl if I didn't pay respects to one of the men who crooned the songs of my childhood.






My dad would play The Clancy Brothers for us when Bridge and I were wee little girls. These Irish ballads and whiskey tunes would cry out of the record player when we were about as tall as leprechauns. We'd bop around to the beat of the bodhran and my dad would sing along like he was an honorary member of the group.

Gosh, how I love that music.

To this day, whether it be in an Irish pub or at a St. Patrick's Day parade, my heart beats a bit harder and faster and a flash of white, hot pride buzzes through my body when I hear those tunes.

It may be so watered down, but I can still feel my strong, Irish Pride.
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We listened to a lot of that music while living in Minneapolis.

I lived there between the ages of two and six.

If my adult memories are moving video, then many of my Minneapolis memories are foggy snapshots. Brief snippets of walking on a frozen Lake Minnetonka in the winter time. Picking out toys at the little well at the "Country Kitchen" restaurant after Mom's car broke down. Going to the beach in the summertime. Loud fireworks near the lake on the Fourth of July.

My parents remember a whole lot more about Minneapolis. That's where they met and got married. Before that, my mom went to college in St. Paul. Even further back my grandfather went to the University of Minnesota to get his masters in Engineering,

My family has lots of ties to the Twin Cities.

So when I heard a blurb about the bridge collapse on the radio, I felt compelled to call Mom and Dad.

It was 10 pm and I hesitated - they're retired and go to bed early by my standards.

But then I thought Mom would want to know about this.

She started crying on the phone when I broke the news.

The pictures are just awful. I've wondered before- how would I do if a bridge collapsed in the road ahead of me? At what point do you have no time to slam on the brakes, and are instead forced to just plow ahead and pray as you plummet?

Godspeed to the families touched by this tragedy.