You began as a place on my bucket list, a destination I wasn’t sure I’d ever see.

Then work, a new job, carried me over the Atlantic to the place of my ancestors.

Dublin and its surrounding towns welcomed me with open arms, pints of Guinness, golf on a links course, and a night filled with live Irish music, eating shepherds pie, and dancing.

I discovered good people and that I could drive on the opposite side of the road. My American brain made the change after some tense rides on roads too narrow for two cars at once and roundabouts with too many lanes.

More visits followed, each one as good as the last.

Memories were made with my soon to be wife, my daughter turning drinking age, and my dear friend of many years.

We stilled our car on an Irish country road and witnessed for ourselves the legend of coasting backward up a hill, defying gravity.

We climbed from the base of a mountain, The Long Woman’s Grave, to the top and let the wind hold us up from falling forward.

Ireland, you are my home away from home.
Never change from loving American eighties and country music. Never change your menu. May your people never lose their good, Irish soul.

Save me a Guinness until next time we meet.

(ProWritingAid Style Score: 100%)