When I was young, I was pinched a lot on St. Patrick’s Day. Since my family was not Irish, I always forgot to wear green until I got to school. It’s one of the reasons I bought green shamrock stickers when I was a teacher to give to all my students who weren’t wearing green!

On St. Patrick’s Day, we say that everyone is Irish, whether you really are or not. The people that I know who are Irish are fiercely so; they are proud of their Irish ancestry. In this melting pot that is America, perhaps the rest of us just want to fit in with the Irish on this one day of the year, although I have to say I think Ed is only in it for the corned beef.

I had never cooked corned beef until I married Ed. I actually think that was the first time I had ever eaten corned beef. And oh! It tastes so good!

I’ve also made boiled cabbage, which I didn’t care for. I prefer cabbage cooked a different way, in the way my ancestors made it.

When I was growing up, the only German meal my mom made for us was sausage, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. I still love it, and I make it for my family when I get a craving for it. We don’t really have a special day when we eat sausage and sauerkraut, but we do share something with the Irish: beer.

While Guinness is a little too dark for me, Ed and I used to drink either Bass (Irish beer) or Hacker-Pschorr Weisse (German beer) every Saturday night after church. So I guess when we were in church looking forward to our beer, we were doing the opposite of what Martin Luther said: “I’d rather my people were in the alehouse thinking of church, than in church thinking of the alehouse.” It’s said that Luther loved his wife’s home-brewed beer.

My grandfather, a proud German, drank half a beer with his lunch, and the other half with his dinner. He said that beer was good medicine, and he lived to be 96 years old.

While I’m usually staunchly German like my grandfather, I’ve always loved this Irish proverb.

Perhaps I love it because the ending, “And until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of His hand,” reminds me of my uncles. They say instead of goodbye, say until we meet again either here on Earth or in heaven above.

What’s your ancestry? Are you Irish on St. Patrick’s Day? Tell me in the comments below!

I don’t have to look far to find an inspirational woman. Every day, I’m surrounded by them.

To just a casual observer, these women don’t seem as though they are amazing. They are just living life; dropping their kids off at school; going to work; buying groceries; driving carpool.

But I know. I know just some of their secrets. I know there’s more to them than meets the eye.

That woman over there? She fights depression and anxiety every day and somehow makes it out of bed each morning. She tries to eat right and exercise, goes to therapy and takes her medication. She works hard, has her ups and downs, and breathes a sign of relief when the day is over.

What about this one? She seems to have it all; the nice car, the handsome husband, the sweet kids. But she’ll never forget the baby she lost a few years ago.

And then there’s another woman, who treats her elderly father-in-law as though he’s her own father. She keeps track of his medication and goes for walks with him daily. Every since he lost his wife, she’s been by his side.

You’d never know that that woman over there had an unexpected illness just a few months ago. It took her weeks, months even, to recover, with unexpected setbacks along the way.

And then there’s this woman, whose husband decided he didn’t want to be married any more. She needs to keep working full time and also needs to find a way to take care of her three children during this confusing time, when Daddy doesn’t live with them any more.

She has always wanted to be mom. Every since she was a little girl, she wanted children of her own. But now, she has come to terms with the fact that she’ll never have kids. And right now, it seems to her that she’ll never find true love, either.

You may think that you know who I’m talking about. She is one of your friends. Or maybe she’s your sister, your mother, or your neighbor. Maybe she’s that mom from the school that you really don’t like, or the lady at the grocery store that ignored you. Or perhaps she’s someone you met online but have never met in real life.

I know, you expected me to tell you a name. To write about just one person.

But I can’t. There’s too many of you out there who inspire me.

Even though you have had your share of pain, of heartache, you still live life. You’re out there, creating, dreaming, laughing, writing, living, and loving. You’re becoming an inspiration to someone else and you don’t even know it, because you’re just being you.

Inspirational you.

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Write about your inspiration, and link it up here!