Feast of St. Joseph

A comment was made on yesterday's St. Patrick's Day post about my dad's birthday.

"I wonder how old he was before he figured out they weren't celebrating HIS birthday? I bet he and your mom are having a grand celebration!"

Turns out, March was a big birthday month for Dad's family. His father's birthday was 22. March. His uncle and person he was named after had a birthday on 24. March. His aunt, the defacto matriach of the family in this country had a birthday on 12. March and an uncle from Dad's maternal side had a birthday on 29. March. This uncle became a lawyer and later a judge. After law school, Dad went to work for his uncle, a sort of apprenticeship.

Back in the old country (Italy), 19. March was the feast day of St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. The day was a sort of Father's Day. Celebrated with special foods, in particular, Zeppole di San Giuseppe, a kind of cream puff filled with a rum flavored, custard filling, dusted with powdered sugar and topped with a dollop of whipped cream and a cherry. No Italian would have given a thought to poor St. Patrick.

Knowing my dad because he was treated as the crown prince and heir apparent, he would know the celebration was always HIS (-:  And yeah, I bet the celebration is still going on.