Photo Friday: Happy Birthday Patti Kolk!

It's already Photo Friday again. The week flew by. There is a lot going on this week—March Madness, St. Patrick's Day, my sister's birthday. To celebrate, I scanned old photos from March long ago. I am sharing a photo of my sister Patti on her 24th birthday.

Patti was born the day before St. Patrick's Day, on March 16th. My mother always claimed that that was not the reason she chose Patricia as her name. She said that she once knew a woman who had a little girl named Patti Sue and she fell in love with the name. She decided that she would name a daughter 'Patti Sue'. I've always wondered why it wasn't me, since I am the oldest daughter.

Because Patti was born the day before St. Patrick's day, we always celebrated with green. The parties I remember from when we were little always featured a green cake, and she wore a green dress. Sometimes there were even shamrock cutouts. We are not of Irish descent, by the way.

When we grew up, we still celebrated with green. Often I hosted the party. It was a pretty big event, with siblings and cousins and their families. We made corned beef and cabbage, a tradition I learned from my college roommate. Her family WAS of Irish descent! I often made a green cake for Patti's birthday. One of my favorites was a creme de menthe flavored cake . 

Patti has been gone for many years now. But whenever people pull out the green and eat corned beef, I think of Patti!