The luck of the Irish

Many years ago, I was telling my mom what a lucky lady I am. My friends, Norm and Virginia Rohrer, had mailed me my Day Runner that I’d left at their home after a visit. Norm and Virginia lived at Hume Lake near Sequoia National Park, and I lived in Southern California at that time and was lost without my organizer. That was about twenty years ago. I’m still lost without my organizer. Only now, I carry a smaller one. Thankfully I haven’t left it anywhere lately.

What does this have to do with the luck of the Irish? Everything! For, you see, going back to my conversation with mom, life is a lot about luck. Even if you’re not Irish you may find you have the luck of the Irish. Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary reads this way about “luck”, Good fortune or prosperity: success.

But, being “lucky” may be more of an attitude than anything else. It’s also about your perspective and what principles you stand upon.

Just Saturday, March 13, I had a very lucky experience. On the very day of one of the worst storms in the Northeast I was in New York City at NYU for a medical seminar. The wind was near hurricane force and the rain was unrelenting. I’d never seen so many broken umbrellas swept up against fences or strewn in the gutters all smashed to smithereens. I had just gotten off the bus at 42nd Street and Third Avenue and was walking over to catch the M bus down to 34th Street when my hat blew off. It whirled up and around on the current and then was blown smack under a security truck. Suddenly, a tall, able-bodied looking man with glasses and hair askew from the wind who was walking a few steps in back of me bolted into action. He knelt down on his hands and knees and reached under the security truck into black oblivion to grab my hat. When he stood back up he handed me my hat for which I profusely thanked him, and then he continued down the sidewalk. Talk about chivalry!

Yes, indeed, I would acquiesce I was lucky that there was a chivalrous gentleman close by in my moment of need. As I look over my life, fortuitousness has truly been the wind at my back.

And, so, on St. Patrick’s Day 2010, may the Luck of the Irish be with you and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand.