Living History

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I had to wait to submit this one as it was picked up by Heartwarmers newsletter and they wanted first rights. As a child I loved history, actually I excelled at it, but generally speaking the subject was not engaging for most of my peers. Teenagers simply could not connect to what happened in the past while trying to live in the present. As an adult, my best friend became an historian. She would often talk about "living history" That concept did not hit home until today. It was in fact, my son who taught me the true meaning of "living history" in every sense of the word. Our last name is Roach, It is an Irish name. The roach is a fish which swims in the English Channel. I read that it is the most abundant fish in Europe. My son, a Canadian boy, did not know anything else about his Irish roots, a continent away. In light of the upcoming holiday, I decided to do a little research on St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland. From the research, my son and I both received a true "living history" lesson of the greatest magnitude. Much of the conversation went like this. "Maewyn Succat, who is that?" "He was Saint Patrick, before he was made bishop and renamed by Constantine." "Wait til I get back on my Final Fantasy game, I am going to test those Irish dudes and see how much they really know." "Well that could be a problem in and of itself. History is not always accurate, and we must take bits and pieces and put it together. That is a major reason why there are so many theories about things." "Like what?" "Like the story of St. Patrick which is still steeped in a lot of mystery. There are several theories about his life. One account historians rely on is from his own personal writings, called "confessio", or Magnum Opus." "Magnum Opus, hey they use that name in Final Fantasy too." "Just goes to show you that even your online games can teach you some history doesn't it. The young Maewyn was captured from his home in Britain, or Brittany." "You mean St. Patrick wasn't from Ireland?" "No he was captured at sixteen and made into a slave by raiders from Hibernia, which is now Ireland." "Hibernia", hey that is the street, where all those Irish gangs live. No wonder they all live there." "The young Patrick, tended sheep in the Slemish mountains. He was still a heathen at that time. But he learned the Irish Celtic traditions very well. Later, he lived in a Druid home until one day he heard a voice telling him that "his ship had arrived" and he must return to his homeland." "His ship was in." Didn't they already make that movie?" "No, that was "if you build it, they will come." But you're right both guys heard voices. Anyhow, he believed these voices were from God and when he returned home, he entered a monastery in Gaul and learned more about God. Guess what, he heard another voice again telling him to return to Ireland and convert all the pagans to Christianity." "Were there battles?" "Yep plenty of them, but Patrick won, and Ireland became Christian. He baptized tens of thousands of people and he was responsible for building hundreds of churches throughout Ireland until he died in 460 A.D." "Cool" "And you know the first St. Patrick's Day parade was not even in Ireland, but took place in New York City on March 17, 1762." "I don't like the Parade." "Well you did at one time. Remember when we took Sparkey and he peed on that man's shoe?" "No!" "Oh well you were too young to remember anyway, but you did have fun!"