Mary Novaria

As featured in the Huffington Post My mother embraced all things Irish: shamrocks, soda bread and fishermen’s sweaters. She chose St. Patrick’s Day for my father’s funeral and, the night before, she mended the old green, white and orange flag so we could fly it at the house during a reception following the service. My mom could tell you the names of the villages in Cork, Kerry and Limerick where her grandparents were born, and I knew my dad’s people were from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. I’d always been told I was 100 percent Irish and I believed it every St. Patrick’s Day of my life — until now. I recently ran my DNA and the surprising results, which estimate I’m 94 percent Irish, indicate the percentage could even be as low as 81. Surprisingly, I have DNA from Finland/Northwest Russia, but I have a feeling those ancestors go so far back I’ll never find them. Click here for the rest of the story... 

Breaking waves at Paia, Maui.  New York Times best-selling author Laura Munson (This Is Not The Story You Think It Is...A Season of Unlikely Happiness) has opened up her page to guest bloggers this month for her Haven Writing Series. I am honored that she kicked off the series, whose theme is Long Ago: Community, with my piece The Salwater Cure. You may read it here or click on the link below. I hope you enjoy it! --Mary “Long Ago: Community” Entry #1 | THESE HERE HILLS The Saltwater Cure by  Mary Novaria “The sea does not reward those who are too anxious, too greedy, or too impatient.  One should lie empty, open, choiceless as a beach—waiting for a gift from the sea.”  – Anne Morrow Lindbergh My mother grew up in a town by the sea. Her mother did as well. The women who came before them were mostly born and buried in Ireland, surrounded by the sea—except for a few who managed to escape the poor and inhospitable place in the 1880s. Born in Ballyvour...