Foo Turns 14!
It is hard to believe that my first-born son has hit the milestone of 14. He towers over his father and I in height now. His voice is the deepest in the home. I love to watch him grow into the young man that he is and look forward with great anticipation at what life has in store for him. Happy belated birthday, son!
This month has also been busy with other various celebrations. The wonderful parish that we belong to took time to honor the graduating seniors. They had a splendid dinner and a night of reflection and sharing that the teens were able to take part in. I don't believe there were many dry eyes by the end of the night.
These are some of the seniors that Bean has had the blessing of sharing her highschool years with.
Foo and Lem also had a night of appreciation as our parish honored the altar servers. It is a beautiful Mass in which the altar servers, ALL of them, probably over 100 of them, are escorted and honored by our Knights of Columbus.
The "ceremony" in which this Mass begins really does help to set the tone for the reverence that is due to the Mass and the emotion of watching my children and those young people that serve at the table of the Lord have a moment of recognition is one of the most memorable events of the year. Of course all of this is taken in stride by Fish who wanted to know why the PIRATES were at Mass!! I love that I still have the blessing of Fishims!!
After the Mass, I walked outside for a bit before dinner and came upon a memorial garden that had recently been created for 3 sweet baby boys, one of whom has the same name of one of my sons. I had to take a few moments to take it all in. The solemnity of the Mass. The beauty of Our Lord. The sorrow of a mother and father who have lost their dear children. The joy that I have in watching mine grown. The wonder of why. The feeling of gratitude and yet unworthiness.
On Mother's Day, we had the wonderful privilege of watching Fish receive his First Communion. Because of the Swine Flu, our diocese has instituted precautionary measures which include not offering the Cup during Holy Communion.
However, on this occasion, Fr. George not only invited Fish up to the altar to receive the Body of Christ, he also offered him the Chalice to receive the Blood of Christ! It was quite a moving experience and I cried through the entire thing. I couldn't help but feel the presence of my own mother with us, and that coupled with the presence of our Lord, the Holy Spirit, and all the Saints, really took me over.
One extra special surprise was the visit of a dear friend who moved away a few years ago. It was so wonderful to have Amanda join us!
In true Fish-fashion, when I asked him to bring down his clothes to be ironed for Mass, this is how his shirt arrived. It had been hanging in the closet just as you see it here...
We still have a few celebrations before the end of the month. Graduation, 18th birthday, Grandfather's birthday and Grandparent's anniversary! Then, before the end of the summer, we will be saying good-bye to Bean as she heads off to college! What a wonderful plan He has laid out for us!!
