St. Patrick’s Day is always seen as a day set aside for Irish pride.  It is a day to stock up on soda bread, corned beef and cabbage, and if you are over 21, green colored beer.  It is also a day to acknowledge flame headed gingers not only for their hair color, but for the Celtic significance of such hair color.  It is also a day when people pretend that bagpipes are an Irish invention.

But for those not of Irish descent, the day seems more like a day fabricated by t-shirt and shamrock necklace companies, rather than a celebration of the spirit of a proud people and a weathered nation.  So on this St. Patrick’s Day, whether you are Irish or Polish, Japanese or Chaldean, take the time to stop and think of the places where your family came from.  Every person, regardless of race or circumstance, has been shaped by not only the beliefs of their ancestors, but also the struggles that defined them.  On this day, take the time to appreciate your roots.  Take the time to see your parents and your grandparents as the incredibly strong people that they are and give thanks that you can claim relation to them.  And above all, remember that without knowledge of the past, it is impossible to dictate who you are.