Every year the Westside Irish parade rolls in front of the same pubs. The same bagpipe bands playing the same familiar tunes. The same politicians running for office, the same public-school band and the same floats gliding across Madison Street.
But if you look closely, it’s never the same parade.
I started going to the Forest Park Saint Patrick's Day Parade back in the 1990s. Back when it was new and I was young. Back when the sidewalks were packed shoulder to shoulder and the bars were packed by noon. Back when my Old Man was still around.
When we would drive past the Jewish cemeteries in Forest Park, my dad would break into song, loud and proud. Belting out “Tradition!” from Fiddler on the Roof. Not a singer in the technical sense, but he didn’t care. He sang it like it mattered. I keep with the tradition for the Shepkids, but my go to song is "Sunrise, Sunset."
Now when I go to the parade, the streets look familiar but the faces are different. Parents who once stood beside me are gone. Friends who shared beers along the route have drifted off with time.
Twenty-five years ago, my new girlfriend joined me for our first parade. She brought me a green carnation to mark the occasion. The next year her mom and dad joined us and then several years later we started bringing our children.
Those days are gone, but the parade still comes.
The pipes still play and the flags still wave. That is the thing about tradition. It isn’t permanent at all. It is a relay race. People carry it for a while, then hand it off to the next group standing along the curb.
Today I’ll stand there again, remembering the ones who used to stand beside me. My eyes will be wet when the bagpipes start up. I will hug and shake hands of many old friends and familiar faces...
... and somewhere in the back of my mind I’ will hear my dad singing: “Tradition!”
The morning starts out wet and as the wind picks up the temperatures will drop. I'll wear my kilt so the grown-up single Irish dancers have a warm place for their hands.
Six Nations this morning with Scotland and France. Followed by the English playing the Italians. Congratulations to the Irish beating Wales yesterday afternoon.
Let's get our Irish on and enjoy some gusto and astonishment.
