What a thrill to participate in the Scottish Tartan Parade yesterday with our Scottie, Mr. Knightly and Westie, Iona. Over a hundred West Highland terriers and Scottish terriers joined the Tartan Parade to the swirl of the pipes as thousands of spectators waving their St. Andrew’s flags lined Sixth Avenue.

The Grand Marshal of the 2015 parade was the Scottish actor, Graham McTavish, star of the series “The Outlander”.

Having been born in Aberdeen and raised in Belfast the sound of those pipes bring a tear of homesickness to the eye and a longing for my ain folk.

Before leaving for home we spent a few moments relaxing to enjoy the beauty of spring at Rockefeller Center under sunny skies with a reverberating lingering sound of “Scotland the Brave” in the air, two weary puppies and meditating on my heritage.

I write in my book “Developing A secret History with God” about being thankful for our historical roots.

“In the Bible, God uses chapter after chapter devoted only to genealogies, therefore our historical roots must be very important to God. You are who went before you, rarely unique and yet part of all those who went before you. Your heritage is who you are today.

God planned for generations to have the ‘gene’ pool He could pull from to make you! Do not tread upon His sovereign planning, for He knew the character, personality, abilities and talents He would need when He drew up the blueprint for your life. Do not belittle your ancestry because you are who went before you. Your genes were in them. If you are trying to be someone you are not, you are not being true to your root structure. Shakespeare said it well: to thine own self be true.”

Excerpt from “DEVELOPING A SECRET HISTORY WITH GOD” page 208 Avaiable from Barnes & Noble/ Amazon.