For many, reminders of exile

Coinciding with St. Patrick’s Day this year, the New York Daily News published my op-ed, “An Irish journey, shared by all” — a reflection on the experiences of emigration and exile through the lens of our family’s story.  The gist:

“Today, crowds gather — as they do every year — on account of a saint who lived 16 centuries ago. It isn’t simply that everybody becomes Irish for a day. It’s rather that the Irish experience, like the experience of St. Patrick, resonates so broadly. Theirs is a story of departure as well as arrival, a reminder of leaving home, of those left behind.”

As well as  my excitement over seeing this publish online bright and early (i.e., at 4:40 a.m.), one of the day’s highlights for me was standing at the counter of a local convenience store here in New York flipping through the pages with the cashier to find the placement in print.  Having grown up abroad, she told me how excited she was to wrap up her shift to be able to read another immigrant’s story with the help of a dictionary, since she generally found it difficult to understand newspapers.

As you can imagine, I’ve been so humbled by the response thus far. 

If you haven’t yet, please read on — and share, like, and tweet away!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!