The “old” cemetery in Ireland, I went to check it out to see if I could find any “Spence” ancestral names. As you can see…The headstones were hard to read, in fact you couldn’t read them at all AND it was not old…but ancient might be a better adjective. The cemetery sat next to the river and could have been the perfect backdrop for any horror flick, but the feeling there was one of calm peace. I found my ONE and ONLY four leaf clover in Ireland here.
My Irish Eye’s Were Smiling.
I came home to talk to Grandma about the cemetery, “Oh yes, she stated. Mom said that they would have one plot for a whole family and when someone died they would just dig up one spot and put the next body in, she went on to say…it wasn’t uncommon to see a flash of red hair in the grave as they lowered the next body in.”
Hmm, I wonder if this could possibly be an Irish folktale, or if it is real? You see, Grandma also said to me as we were driving one day..I was maybe three or four, you know how people lose one shoe and can never find it? I said, “yes”, (obediently, as Grandma WAS ALWAYS right) . She pointed to the large blue water tower and said well that is where they keep all those lost shoes, up there in the water tower.
It made perfect sense to me.
I was working in my classroom after school today and One Love by U2 came on Pandora. I sang along as usual, harmonizing badly. I even opened my classroom door for all lucky a passerby to hear. ha. I was transported in my minds eye back to high school when U2 was probably my MOST FAVORITE band. I remember sitting in the basement of a friends house, the girls all gathered around the coffee table on the couches and the boys were playing pool. Achtung Baby was playing on the CD player. I was trying to look cool and cute with out looking too cool and cute, you know? One love came on over the stereo, I quickly glanced to my right to see my friend crying she had just broken up with her boyfriend. I comforted her and thought, now THIS is why I DO NOT have a boyfriend.
This song played over and over throughout high school, as we drove for hours Friday nights.
As I got ready for dances and school in the mornings. We would sing every song word for word and dreamed of meeting Bono in person.
Then, my dreams came true. For a graduation present my Dad bought me and my cousin Aubree the HOTTEST ticket in town, ON THE FLOOR seating for two to U2’s Pop Tour. Rage Against the Machine opened for them and it was night we waited for in anticipation. It was the BEST night of my life thus far. We watched in awe as Bono strutted down the ASU football field an ARMS length from where we sat…if we could ONLY reach out and touch him. The Edge followed, it was dreamy. We sang our hearts out and met some cute boys. It was pretty much the best night ever.
U2 is one of those iconic bands, their melody’s poetry, timeless ballads that pierce your heart, layered with understanding as you grow older, learn more, see more.
They came to town again, and my then husband bought me tickets for my birthday. They were good seats and The Black Eyed Peas opened for them. I don’t remember a whole lot about it. I just know that the whole event, the concert seemed lackluster from all of the concerts I had attended in the past. You see, I love a great concert any kind the symphony to grunge. This one however, was the last. The last one I went to as a married woman and for some reason, after that concert I put away U2. I couldn’t listen to their songs because I knew every song and the words were too real, some of them I was living right at that moment. In fact, I even stopped singing. I sang all the time when I was happy. Music lost its joy for me, the music in me had died.
Today as I was singing along to One Love, happily engaged in my work I realized the beauty of the moment. It wasn’t but a few hours earlier in talking to a friend outside my door, the sun shining on my face I had tilted my ear to the big tree and pointed out how much I loved hearing the birds sing. I realized in that moment this little song bird got her songs back. The music is born again, and so I added a U2 station to my Pandora list.
I don’t think there could be a better thing to do today. To prepare for the first day of March, a month of greenery, luck, and Irish song. I think Bono’s Irish Eye’s probably smiled for me today, along with mine.
