An Italian in Irish Clothing
Top o the mornin to ya!
Prompt #1 from Keeley Schroder Irish saying
This simple saying once caused nearly hysterical laughing in my family as a kid.
It is essential to know that my family is 100% Italian.
On the first of March, my brother, Nick, about eight years old, was very excited when he came home from school. This was already a surprise. He didn’t like school too much.
“We are having a St. Patrick’s day parade. I’m going to be a leprechaun. I’m going to be the leader.” He said
At first, knowing it was likely that about half of the kids were Irish in his class at a catholic school, we wondered about the nun’s choice.
But we could see why he was picked. He was shorter than most of the other kids and suffering from an early onset of a beer belly.
The nun made a costume for him. He did look like a leprechaun, which of course, had the rest of the family laughing uncontrollably. It didn’t help that he was practicing the words he had to say as the class marched: “Top o the mornin to ya.”
He really wanted to be the best leprechaun. He tried to sound Irish. He decided to practice the phrase every day: whenever he came home, or someone entered the room, and even as he went to bed. He tried hard to sound like an Irishman.
By the 17th, we were all thinking of strangling him. What saved him was our laughter when he donned the costume.
The nun told him he was the best St. Patrick’s parade leader she ever had. She likely thought he was pretty good for an Italian kid.
So I will never forget this phrase for the joyous memory of my late brother being Irish for one day.
