lucky

(originally begun as a short story of sorts for Al, yet turns into a letter to little brother.  inspired by true events in my little brother's life)

they say there's this thing called luck.  pots o' gold, end of rainbows, lucky charms cereal, winning the lotto, and the ever-so-ubiquitous Finding A Four Leaf Clover.

some people experience it daily in their lives, as if it's truly some kind of good ol' magical karma coming back to them in spades.  some people have a few lucky moments throughout the course of their lives.

and then there's the flipside....

there are those who face setback after setback, work hard their whole lives but with no real reward, have bad things happen more than a handful of times, are put innocently in harm's way, can't get a break or move forward and seem to lack Luck.

without delving into fragmented philosophies or eastern thought or getting into an argument with Oprah, i am just going to take that thing called LUCK at face value.

because Luck is just Luck.

I grew up as the older sister of one of the luckiest boys I've ever known. Little Ryan O'Patrick Brother Leprechaun.

While running around the green summer grasses at the Indiana homestead, barefoot and carefree, imagination planted its roots firm in the ground.  And when the clover patches worked their ways into our path, that kid had an eagle eye.

In a little 3-year-old Ryan voice: "I think I saw a Four-Leaf-Clover back there."

And a 10 year old big sis said, "Where?" and begins frantically looking everywhere for it as she has spent a good portion of her first decade trying to locate one of her very own.

And I'm sure while Ryan O'Patrick was singing a whimsical song or la-la-la-ing I would follow him and he would walk right up to it (dressed in my pink skirt) and pluck it from the earth with a dramatic 'Ta-Da!!!!" .

AAAAAAGH!  Cursed AGAIN I was.

And he went on to find THREE MORE in his lifetime!

Maybe he had someone watching over him.  Maybe it was that cat who kept climbing into his windowsill.  We thought it was an imaginary cat he was envisioning as tumbling off to dreamland until we saw him with our own eyes.  A little tabby cat just perched on a 2nd-story windowsill staring at Ryan with wonder as he slept....

And maybe that was the dawn of his Lucky Life as he knew it.  Who else would Ann-Margret want greeting her at the stage door? Escorting her to her dressing room during a Chicago theatre run at the early dawning of Ryan O'Patrick's adulthood? 

Former Winnetka-area New Trier high school classmate shouts from the commotion: 'Ann-Margret!  Ann-Margret!  Do you remember me???'

As Ryan O'Patrick leads Ann-Margret into the back halls as she blows kisses to the wind, 'I remember EVERYONE!  Mwah!  EVERYONE!  Mwah!'

And he moves to New York City and everything continues to fall magically into place.

Ryan O'Patrick, four-leaf clover finder, the only boy to mystify the mystical cat, Ann-Margret tamer, roamer of lucky New York streets.  All around Lucky Guy.

Ryan, I hope that  incredible job lands on your doorstep soon.  get back in touch with that LUCK.  And if you ever find you have too much luck, remember how awesome your big sister is and share...

XOXO!