Halfway Home

After eleven days in Edinburgh, we're on the way home. We're currently holed up in the Bewley's Airport Hotel in Dublin, just like we were at the end of our last trip to Ireland. Except, like the hotel in Ballsbridge at the start of this journey, Bewley's is now Clayton's. Tomorrow morning we begin the long flights home, first to Dulles in Washington D. C., and from there to San Diego.

This has been an interesting trip. Maybe not the best time to go, what with the cold and (admittedly light) rain, especially in Edinburgh. But we came to add our presence and voices to the remembrance and celebration of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. And Easter is when it is, and we wouldn't have missed it for anything.

  Perhaps what came through most clearly is that justice and social change require both courage and sacrifice. The gains made by our predecessors do not automatically continue but must be constantly defended. In America we have a deep history of men and women who have fought for similar gains--the right to organize unions, the right to a living wage, equal justice for all, the right of every citizen to vote without undue restriction.

    Liberty Hall, Dublin

  We both feel that making this trip has been an immense privilege. Thank you for being here to share it with us.

    Mike and Kate.