THE FAMILY!!!

we went to kilkenny and inquired of this fellow about the dwyer or lacey family. he was no help.

then......

i finally got to meet some of my mom's family in Ireland! And my girls got to meet their Irish cousins! And Kevin got to hang out with some of the most amazing and wonderful people in ireland. and they are so much fun. they made us feel so welcome and it felt like i was coming home in a way.

First, we met Anne at Kilkenny castle. Kevin and I had spent time with Anne when she was in the bay area (during our courting days a bazillion katrillion years ago). Anne had us follow her to the family home about 20 minutes from kilkenny so we wouldn't get lost. she says "there is a lot of guess work involved in driving in ireland!"

Then,

we met Kitty, Anne's mom and Anne's brother Seanie. now mind, these are people of legend in my family. my mom and dad visited Kitty and John and their children once and the smile that would come to their faces (especially mom) when they spoke of their time here still warms my heart.

they had the most delightful supper for us. we all felt so welcome, relaxed and happy!

and we met: Lena and Morris, whose daughter

Kathy was just then honeymooning in the US

and was at that very instant (or close enough) meeting my family in the bay area!

and we met: Jimmy and Breda and Tom and Maggie and John and ......i know i'm going to miss people because it's like 2 in the morning and i also know i am masacreing people's names and i so completely apologize and if you just blog me i'll fix it because the computer is an amazing thing...

and we met: Niamh and Ciara and Aoife and Sean and we missed Willie and Nora but we had the most exquisite time!

And the girls got to go home with maggie and all her crowd and so did Jillian and Emily (two of Jimmy and Breda's daughters). so, of course, next day there were many smiles and we got to see our first hurling match! and Jerpoint Abbey (which is incredible and very medievally). And that evening they had mass in the town cemetary and blessed all the graves and we got to pay our respects to John and all the kids decorated his beautiful grave with the little white and black pebbles that cover his plot and it was all very good. and now i must head for bed and it's off to germany tomorrow (or rather today).

Love to you all and thank you for being in our lives.