#187: “Red-Letter Day”

In 325, the First Council of Nicaea decreed that saint’s days, feasts and other holy days would henceforth be printed on church calendars in red. In 1549, the term ‘red-letter day’ came into more common usage when the calendar in the first book of Common Prayer depicted special holy days in red ink. Today is one of those days but for me, ‘St. Patrick’s Day 2013′ is a ‘red-letter day’ for a completely different reason.

Today, my mother, who took up short-story writing just a few years of years ago, has just had one of her stories long-listed for the prestigious Fish Short Memoir Writing Contest 2013. Fish, an independent publishing company based in the West of Ireland, has been running writing contests since 1994 with the aim to encourage and promote new writers.

As a wanna-be writer, I am consumed with professional jealousy, matched only by the immense pride in my heart. I suspect her submission next year might make the short-list. Congratulations Annie Kilmartin. Your mother would also be very proud.