Michael Ferry of County Donegal

I was trolling an unaccustomed mall with Two the other day in search of stocking stuffers for mine spouse (Two’s mater) and we found ourselves sitting on a low wall outside the main doors, waiting for said spouse to pick us up. We hadn’t been waiting long when a gentleman asked if we minded additional company and sat down next to us.

His name was Michael and he was visiting the Orlando area with a tour group from Ireland. And we had the nicest visit.

We got to talking about places I’d heard of through old family stories and it was wonderful to have him explain things through the eyes of a guy who was intimately familiar with the settings of those same stories. For example, my Dad’s family comes from Movilla, a town with which Michael was quite familiar, down to how many families with our name still lived in the area. Being from Donegal, he was also quite familiar with Roscommon, from which my mother’s family (mostly Fitzgeralds) hails. And he regaled me with stories of his early life as a lad in Ireland.

I’ve always known I’m mostly Irish, of course. But meeting with Michael Ferry of County Donegal gave me a small taste of what that means.

Pretty soon, he finished his ice cream and moved on. But he was a nice guy who added immensely to my enjoyment of the day. For ten or twelve minutes, I felt a kinship to my family that I’d never really felt before.