Lovesick

In late August, my family went to Milwaukee's Irish festival.

This wasn't your average celebration.

By the hundreds, people swarmed one of the biggest festival grounds in the US  that day.

 

I have to admit - at that time in the summer, I was in a love/hate relationship with Ireland.

I was absolutely struggling and trying not to drown in my own memories.

I had been to Ireland a few months beforehand and had some unfortunate lessons to learn.

With groggy eyes, blinking in the morning sunlight, I wandered around on my own for a while.

My eyes fell onto a sign.

It was a schedule of the musicians who were to perform!  

My heart skipped a beat.

One of my favorite Irish bands The Kilkennys were here!

Their music gave me fond memories of St Patrick's Day itself. They were a piece of Ireland that I was still in love with.

The day was a dreamy blur.

I got to meet the grandson of a man involved in the 1916 rising.

I learned some music, and ate wonderful food.

I got to get my hands on fresh brown bread.

A man saw me eyeing a bag of Tayto (chips that aren't in the US) and so he opened his own bag and gave me one of his with a smile.

A rainstorm washed over the grounds around 4.

And soon the sun finally emerged once again.

The time had come. The Kilkennys were to be on stage.

My stomach was filled with butterflies as their music began to play in the distance.

My father and mother decided to stay back and eat their dinner on picnic tables far from the stage.

I swiftly walked to the risers that were set for the audience.

There was no path or aisle, so I stepped up on a riser and worked my way to the front row. I balanced on them taking step by step to where I could see the Kilkennys.  

Each time I looked up, a pair of eyes met mine from the stage.

It was as if the Kilkenny's themselves were a bit uneasy watching me balancing.

Its as if they were waiting, ready for me to fall on my face. (Thank goodness I didn't!)

I finally got close and sat down.

The same pair of amused eyes kept looking at mine throughout the show.

But instead I paid attention to the youngest member of the group and ignored the man who seemed to be enamored.

It is as if I blinked and the show was over.

People cheered for more, the group of men huddled around each other.

The man who had been looking at me, kept peering over.

The people cheered louder as they began to play one more song.

This last song was not theirs, but they wanted to play it, the man said.

My heart stopped. My head grew dizzy.

They were singing about Killarney.

My eyes went down to my sweatshirt..my Killarney sweatshirt.

Looking back up, the whole group seemed to be beaming at me, and glancing at one another with playful eyes.

And with that - the sun set, the day was over, and I returned home.

Even though I had good luck with the youngest member of the group - my mind kept wandering to that man.

And at that moment, I felt a little sick.

Why was I attracted to him?

He was older.

Or was he?

This was confusing.

Had I looked at a picture of him at 15 I would have laughed at you if you told me one day I would find him attractive.

I figured that this is all apart of growing up and getting older as a woman.  

Liking older men at first just seems so wrong...but the more you look at them, the more you realize they aren't actually old, and that you are older yourself.

About a month later, I ran into the Kilkennys once again at another festival.

I was still trying to get the attention of the younger man...but again, the leader still kept his eyes on me.

After their gig, I stood and waited for the next group to perform.

I turned around to scan the small crowd. It was measly compared to Milwaukee.

To my surprise, the same pair of amused eyes I had met at the big festival met mine.

There he was.

Standing behind me in the distance. His hands in his pockets. His body and feet positioned towards me.

His mouth in a lopsided sheepish grin. His eyes of curiosity. Of excitement. Of recognition.

My stomach turned to mush.

And without confusion or hesitation, for the first time,I gave him a flirtatious smile and walked towards him through the crowd.

 

Reviews

[Richard🖌]

Gotta watch out for us older fellas, ya know … we have our certain sweet 'n charming, time-proven ways! ; )

As usual, Kathryn, heart-catchingly beautiful, just like You … hugs! ⁓ Richard ; )