Green Carnations

Many moons ago, On Saint Patrick’s Day, my dad would take us out for dinner at a restaurant in East Lansing. For the life of me I can’t recall the name of the place but it had pretty good food. Anyhoo, every year this place had a dinner special just for Saint Patty’s day. You could pick between Irish Stew or the Corned Beef Platter and we all drank too much Irish beer. Over the years the party size grew and a few years it may have thinned. But no matter what, my dad always brought a green carnation for every lass who attended.

I was thinking about that today and two things stuck out. The first being the look on his face whenever one of us gals arrived. His face would just beam. His eyes would shine and his smile grew wide. He had so much fun passing out each and every flower. He did it because he just knew how good it made each of us ladies feel. Let’s face it, it felt great getting a single green carnation on a bleak day in March. My dad loves to do things for others. He loves to make people feel good; he is so generous that way.

The second thing that stood out to me today, my dad, in his own way, made a tradition out of it. March can be down right dreary; forget February. I looked forward to that dinner party every year. A night where we all broke bread, ate too much and laughed really hard.

I think traditions are good, right now more than ever. It’s also the time for making others feel exceptional. We will benefit from it and perhaps glow ourselves. I missed getting the green carnation today. I missed seeing my dad’s face light up.

I’m Art’s daughter and that means today will be a day of doing nice things for others; keeping with his tradition.