On Earth as in Ireland, Pt. 7

Part 0 (The Dream) — Part 1 (The Fog) — Part 2 (The Hike) — Part 3 (The Colors) — Part 4 ( The Flu) — Part 5 (The Flowers) — Part 6 (The Cathedrals) — Part 7 (The Rest)

This story has gone on for a while—the trip is already 3 months past for crying out loud! Because I carry thoughts of Cassie everywhere I go, when our friends and I went to Ireland there was no shortage of things we did that didn’t make me think, “Cassie would have loved this!” I could keep going onto a Part 8, Part 9, Part 10… maybe as far as Part 30 if I wanted to (though I’m sure I would run out of pictures long before then). But I’m drawing the line at Part 7. I talked about some of the biggest parts of our trip. But I want to finish this series up by speaking to the lesser things we set out to cross off from Cassie’s to-do list. Contrary to the list she wrote up, there were more than ten things Cassie wanted to see and to do (visiting the mural-covered peace lines in Belfast or sitting in a cozy pub snug with our friends, for instance). I made sure to make room in my trip for as many of those too. It was really the little things, and the fact that I could do them with friends, that made the trip so incredible.

#1: Beer

At the top of Cassie’s list, oddly enough, was to drink a pint of Guinness while in Dublin. Would she have bragged about it to the senior minister of the church she worked at? Almost definitely not. Regardless, our friends and I blew that item out of the water. While in Dublin we took a tour of the famous Storehouse. Did we check “drink Guinness” off of Cassie’s list for her? Well, I’m not sure how many checks I can fit in one box.

#2: Riverdance

Apparently when Cassie thought of Ireland, she envisioned herself in a Michael Flatley movie, because the next thing on the list was to do his Riverdance. I un-regrettably did not, but if our friends weren’t clicking their heels like leprechauns, they were doing an Irish jig at every stop. I feel good crossing that off the list too.

#5: Castles

Back when the plan was for 8-9 of us to go, we were debating staying at an Airbnb inside a castle. It obviously didn’t work out, but the sentiment was there. We wound up visiting somewhere between two and six castles (depending on your definition of “visit”—a bunch we could only see from far off). I never quite got the experience of feeling like I was in Hogwarts, so maybe Cassie would have been slightly disappointed on that front.

#7: Find a leprechaun

Sadly, we never found any leprechauns. But we did joke we found some kind of Irish fairy who was dancing in the streets of Galway! I don’t think Cassie was too committed to this goal, she was always happy enough with the red-headed, mischievous, leprechaun of a brother she had back home (who is suspiciously wearing green in half the pictures I have of him).

#10: Find the end (of a rainbow?)

I can only assume what the last item on Cassie’s ironically-unfinished bucket-list was: to find the end of a rainbow. As with the leprechauns, I’m sad to report that I don’t recall seeing even one rainbow to follow while we were there; nor did we chance upon any pots of gold in any of our adventures. But as our flight back home took us over the clouds, I couldn’t help but think of all the rainbows ahead of me still. As described in Scripture, they symbolize God’s promise to give life and not destroy it. We’re told that rainbows have no end, and I believe that God’s promises don’t either. So long as I have such amazing friends with me, I’ll gladly chase them into eternity, knowing Cassie is somewhere over each rainbow seeing those promises fulfilled.

I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

Gen 9

The trip was full of wonder, sunshine, fun, adventure, history, beauty, and laughter, yet it was full of poignant moments as well. Though not as wonderful as Cassie’s Ireland, the one we visited was better than I expected. I wish more than anything that she was by my side for every step of that journey. But it is an assurance, at least, that the same spirit she brought to our lives we can still take with us wherever we go.

Part 0 (The Dream) — Part 1 (The Fog) — Part 2 (The Hike) — Part 3 (The Colors) — Part 4 ( The Flu) — Part 5 (The Flowers) — Part 6 (The Cathedrals) — Part 7 (The Rest)