Kiss me I'm Irish--really I am!

Agnes McDowell Smith(one of my very favorite ancestors) was born in Ireland on March 17th many many years ago. So this post is for her. She settled Randolph, UT, but her son Thomas settled Bear Lake (one of my very favorite places on earth). I feel like I belong there, like no other place I've ever been, and in a way, I have Agnes to thank.

Agnes left her husband and one of her eleven children to come to America, knowing she woud never see them again. The only corresepondence they had was in a letter her husband Hugh mailed her a few years after she left. It said something along these lines: "Although we will never meet again in this world, I will wait until we meet again on the shores of the emerald waters." Agnes died in Randolph in 1847ish. Hugh lived much longer--until 1905-ish. What a reunion that must have been.

And so, every year on St. Patrick's Day I don't wear green for the luck of the Irish, or to avoid the pinch, more importantly, I celebrate that reunion, and Agnes herself. Happy Birthday, Grandma.