Category: Ramblings

Ramblings, Wedding

Ireland: love for all!

emmals1992

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Last month, I was privileged to be invited to the wedding of my cousin to his long-term partner in Ireland. It could not have been a more wonderful time; the wedding ceremony was absolutely beautiful. For those who don’t know, my cousin Bernárd Lynch and his husband Billy Desmond have tirelessly fought for LGBT rights for many years now. He worked to help those suffering from AIDs in the 1980s and was persecuted for it. This hasn’t stopped him and he played a vital role in the passing of a number of equality laws in New York. However, through it all Bernárd has kept his strong faith against a religion that says his love is wrong. That kind of devotion is exceptional and I don’t know anyone else who can do what he does.

It was both a private and public celebration; their personal commitment to each other and the culmination of the work of many years that now meant they could legally marry in Ireland after the historic vote for same-sex marriage in 2015.

Coincidentally they were the first gay couple to marry in County Clare, where Bernárd was born, which made it an even more momentous occasion. I can honestly say I don’t think I have seen two people more in love and I challenge anyone to say that being gay is wrong.

As well as the wedding, the whole weekend was the first time I’d been back in Ireland, where my father’s parents were from, in about 14 years. It’s such a beautiful country and the people are so friendly; the stereotype says it’s the friendliest country and we really found that. It was fantastic to meet family, some of whom I’d never met and I instantly felt like I’d known them for years. We are already planning a road trip again soon.

I can wholeheartedly say that I am so proud to call them both a part of my family. I have always supported equal rights for people of all genders, races, sexuality, religion etc. but compared to the struggles and sacrifices they have made it’s nothing.  I implore people to think again when they make a judgement about a situation. Love is all that matters and I think that message has been lost somewhere along the way.

If you want to find out more about their work check out this charity they have set up to support LGBT people across Ireland.

Ramblings

New Years Resolutions

emmals1992

For 2017 I am making two new year’s resolutions. The first one will be obvious. Even though I profess a love of writing, I appear to lack motivation when it comes to writing this blog. I’m great at writing for others or for my new job but not actually for me so I am determined to update this blog regularly. Whenever I finish a great book, tv show or album I will report on my findings here. In other news,  I now have a real ‘grown up’ job as a copy-writer; not that my jobs before weren’t proper ones but there’s something about doing the 9-5 office thing that feels more adult than shift work. I’m really enjoying getting into a routine and more importantly, writing.

My second resolution is connected to the big event happening for me in 2017. For those who do not know, I am getting married in August. My fiance and I are going on an amazing honeymoon and I want to be able to wear a bikini comfortably so would like to lose some weight. I would not normally write stuff like this for people to read but if it’s out there it will hopefully make it easier for me to achieve. Don’t worry I’m not going on some fad diet and I won’t be posting annoying posts about tiny meals etc. I’m just planning on exercising more and eating better. Any tips appreciated.

Please let me know what your new year’s resolutions are and I hope you’ve all had a great Christmas and New Year.

Ramblings

Something that made me think…

emmals1992

So that promise I made to blog more regularly didn’t go quite to plan, but in my defence a lot has happened since my last post. I have also discovered that I get very easily distracted and have all these great plans to do things like blog but something always gets in the way. I need to find a way to improve my motivation.    Firstly I started my new job as a library assistant which I’m really enjoying but the biggest change is that I’m now engaged. I can see my posts becoming quite wedding related as there is so much to think about. It feels very grown-up to be sorting out wedding venues and photographers but in some ways I still don’t feel old enough. So that I’m not just talking about myself I also want to write about important things that have inspired or affected me. On Thursday night I saw the majority of a programme called Employable Me. It followed two men who have both struggled to gain employment due to their conditions. One has severe Tourette’s which gets considerably worse when in public and the other a form of autism which affects his communication, I don’t know much about either conditions so it was very insightful. It was so sad to see them struggle with rejection when they so clearly wanted to have gainful employment for themselves and their families. They both saw professionals who helped them uncover their potential; the man with autism was extremely clever at visual problems and the man suffering from Tourette’s had a passion and talent for photography which also calmed his tics down. The documentary ended with them both in jobs where the employer was able to see their potential behind their condition but it really got to me and showed me how lucky we are that the majority of us in this country can work (albeit that might not be in the exact career or field that you want or even the desired salary). There are also people out there who do not want to contribute to society and have no work ethic but this show makes me feel that hopefully these are in the minority and it also filled me with hope that there are workplaces that actually look at what a person can do regardless of any conditions or circumstances that affect them. It has definitely made me feel much more grateful for the opportunities I have had.

Emma: Some Sense and Ability, and a lot of Persuasion