Our Heart in Ireland, Pt. 2
Present day, 25 September 2018…
We drove south on the N59 heading towards the heartland of Connemara. We were excited about so many things on this trip, from our hobbit hole to going to Inis Oirr and especially to staying in the same cottage where we stayed for our honeymoon. As we passed through Letterfrack however, one more thing that has been on our minds since our honeymoon trip came well into focus...
What ever happened to that rock we left in the grotto?
We didn’t need to check the map, instead we remembered exactly where it was. We pulled over in the same spot, crossed over to that same worn trail, and from the road could see the same Padre Pio and Virgin Mary statues. We noticed right away, however, that the worn trail was much less worn and much more overgrown. We stepped back into the grotto…
We couldn’t help but feel a bit sad by what we found. The little grotto looked as if it had barely been touched since we last visited ten years ago. The paths were overgrown, the padded kneeler was cracked and rotting away, the little station of the cross plaques were uprooted, toppled, and faded, and the stone stairway had fully collapsed and was blocked off. I know these things cost time and money to upkeep, and maybe the caretaker was no longer able or no one felt the need to maintain the grotto. Time passes, and these things happen in life. Still, it was sad to see the current state of this once beautiful place.
Saddest of all, we couldn’t seem to find the box with the offerings and our stone.
We walked across the top of the hill where the view over the inlet as beautiful as ever. We looked at the overgrowth, the toppled stations, and faded offerings. Essentially, we were witnessing the effects of the inevitable passage of time on full display. We pushed through some of the brush to make our way down old trails and remember what the place once looked like.
As I passed by the top of the crumbled steps, I saw something tucked back in the overgrowth, a piece of wood a bit different than the trees and brush around it. I pressed in to the old path, pushed aside the overgrowth, and found the odd colored wood. There was the box! I carefully opened it up and checked inside. Sitting in the box was the same bust of Padre Pio, the same little trinkets left by all the visitors, and the same stack of offerings written on little pieces of paper…
And there in the middle of the box was our heart stone, left here on our honeymoon ten years ago!
We pulled it out and held it once again. The writing had mostly faded, but some parts were still slightly legible if you looked closely. It sat for a full decade absorbing the energy of the amazing Irish coast, and considering all we’ve accomplished and shared over the past ten years, you could say that our marriage was surely blessed!
We thought about what we would do if we managed to find the heart again. Our main idea was to write another message with today’s date and leave it for however many more years would pass. But after seeing the state of the grotto, we can’t say for sure if any of this is going to remain for the future. We decided to take the heart with us, and bring home the spirit of this wonderful land to be released in our home.
Besides, how great is the story of a special heart stone we left by the Irish coast for a decade?
