Celebrating St. Patrick's Day and local festivals is such fun

St. Patrick's Day is a fun day at local restaurants, even if you are not Irish! I'm basically half-Irish and half-Swedish, even though my name is Swedish — the Anderson part. The paternal side of the family won out so we were all raised as Minnesota Swedes with all the food and traditions.

St. Patrick's Day was recognized as a secular holiday, and usually with a little gift at the breakfast table. Mom was good at those touches.

Around here locally, in East Dundee, there is usually a big morning parade that starts at a local public house, Rosie O'Hara's in East Dundee by the Fox River. It's held the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day and is full of floats, dogs, people in green and costumes, a parade queen on a convertible, bagpipes, even a St. Patrick impersonator. Lots of fun. And Rosie's serves great homemade corned beef and cabbage for lunch — always very good.

My dear husband Baheej and I used to go early and get a good place to park. It gets very busy and crowded as it gets closer to the start of the parade at 11 a.m. They open at 8 a.m. and even serve breakfast. And of course we ate corned beef and cabbage. And we enjoyed watching all the families — lots of kids, old and young people, many couples, all dressed in green, funny hats, green beards — very festive.

I still go with friends and it's still fun. I love the bagpipes and seeing all the families enjoying themselves. Not this year, of course, because the parade, as well as other major events, were canceled because of the awful coronavirus pandemic.

A couple years ago, it was so crowded at Rosie's we had to go farther down the road to another restaurant to get our corned beef. It wasn't as good as Rosie's, where you have to go very early to get a table, counter or even a place to stand.

I'm a great advocate of joining in on local celebrations and festivals, especially when bereaved. It's so important to get out there in the community and be part of ongoing social life. And we shouldn't only wait for the big major holidays to participate. There are many local or ethnic holidays to enjoy.

And I decorate around the house for these various holidays, including St. Pat's. I get out the green scarves and shirts — must wear the green. And I have quite a few pieces of Irish Belleek from my Irish grandmother, including a tea cup, cream and sugar bowls and other pieces with shamrocks. I get those out, too.

So the point is: As much as you can, get out there and join the fun at these local celebrations. There are lots of them, such as Swedish Days in Geneva in June and Fall Harvest Fest in September in Dundee. It's worth the effort to go and take part. It will lift your spirits.

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a Ph.D. in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College, and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@comcast.net or see her blog longtermgrief.tumblr.com. See previous columns at www.dailyherald.com/topics/Anderson-Kleif-Susan.