This has to be one of my favorite months of the year! The Greater Hartford Irish community has been hosting a spectacular St. Patrick's Day for parade for decades in Downtown Hartford.

The sense of community and warmth is evident in the faces of the natives of Ireland who now call Connecticut home. My mother came to Connecticut in the 1950s and became part of a new family of a tightly knit Irish community who started working and established their homes and families here. I am so proud of my mother, father and all the other Irish immigrants who came here with nothing and established a new home.

During this month when we celebrate the Irish, we remember their struggles, their triumphs and their welcoming ways. They have a gift for making strangers quickly feel like friends.

When I was 5 years old, I started taking Irish Step Dancing lessons with the Duffy Academy in East Hartford. I competed for about 20 years in competitions all over the country.

Earlier this month, Brad Davis from WDRC Radio asked me to perform some Irish Dancing at his monthly listener lunch. My Eyewitness News This Morning co-anchor, Mike Hydeck, and I met some of Brad's wonderful listeners.

Here is a photo of me in my traditional Irish dancing costume with Brad Davis.

 

May the luck of the Irish be with you always!