Philomena 2.0

I haven’t done much since I’ve been back from Wexford so my posts are going to continue looking backward.
The day after I got back home, I went into town to meet my former co-worker and friend Lisa Curran. She travels the world with two companions, her childhood friend, Rita, and Rita’s husband, Joe. My expectation was that I’d take them on a walking tour of the Cathedral quarter, my favourite bars, a good restaurant, a bit of history, that kind of thing.
Instead. Lisa and I sat at the nondescript bar of a hotel on the edges of the Cathedral Quarter for an hour and a half. Staying at that hotel were four half sisters and brothers Rita didn’t know she had. Lisa and I sat watching as these half siblings walked in with their kids and grand kids and Rita met all of them for the first time.
Rita’s mother and grandmother moved to America from Northern Ireland when the mother was perhaps in her mid 20s. What Rita, an only child, didn’t know was that her mother had had five children before moving to America, all of whom had been given up for adoption. Rita learned of this within the last year, when a nun called asking her questions about her mother.
Lisa knew Rita’s mom well and said she wasn’t all there mentally--Rita concurred. The belief is that the grandmother forced Rita’s mother to give up her children and start a new life in America. Rita’s dad was rock solid so she appears to have had a good life, despite her mother’s mental issues.
It’s not clear how things went for her older siblings. After I chatted with Lisa for a while, it was announced that 16 people were booked in next door for dinner. I bowed out at that point. I don’t like being part of massive dinner groups even with people I know. I feel trapped at a table long after my introvert has made her need to escape quite clear.
I suggested Lisa and I get dinner separately but she wanted to keep an eye on her friend, so I headed back home. There was a swing dance I could have gone to on the way home, the Swingtime Starlets. But I talked myself out of it. There was a dance the following night as well--a line-up of bands performing to raise funds for a cat protection society. I talked myself out of that too. I do wish I were a bit more gregarious, but we get the package we get.
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