Over time...

As I was sitting in the Park lobby eating lunch with friends, a Miss from the front desk came over to ask if any of us were 'Erin Wallenhorst.' I of course made her aware that I am indeed who she asked about and she informed me that someone was on the 'tele' for me at the desk if I'd like to take it...It was Grainne! Grainne (and obviously the rest of her family) is one of my relatives! I couldn't have been more happy to hear from her and certainly found it as a surprise. She rang to see if I'd like to visit one last time before I venture home back to the states and we of course kept on with the conversation. I truly can't wait though seeing as the rest of my relatives whom I have not met will be in Dublin this weekend as well; Grainne's sister Orla and her three kids whose names have momentarily slipped my mind.

Thinking about it now though, I have been intrigued by all of the names of my relatives and even a friend from back home whom I've been thinking of lots since I have been here. This is was I had the urge to blog about...

The other night in class, when Joe was teaching our Irish Culture class, one of the things we talked about and discussed was with regard to mythology and stories, etc...As we talked about this a name came up that I have small connection with: Tadhg. It is pronounced like 'Tiger' just without the 'er' at the end. This struck my interest because my friend from home is named Daragh. I have known him for years and know the majority of his family. His mom is from Ireland and now that I am here, he has offered many times for me to travel a bit and meet his relatives. But the name Tadhg comes into the picture because that is his oldest brother's name. His sister's name is Benvy, and the other brother's name is Jarliff. I remember a few years ago having a conversation about his sibling's names and talking about Ireland and how he always gets to visit; and now I am here, meeting with my own family and learning of my own history. This past week when we had class with Joe I started thinking about all of this sort of stuff and I really felt something when the culture we were learning more about and all of the history and the stories...all of this has been a part of my family's history for years.