Milestones

As I mentioned earlier, my oldest and youngest shared an important day recently: Uno was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Cuatro had her baby blessing. The whole thing went beautifully. I couldn't have been more proud.

In case you're wondering, I ended up with an invitation like this (I ran out of time to include pictures of the girls):



The week before had been cold and dreary -- most of the country had been shut down by a huge blizzard, in fact, though it missed us by ~40 miles; we got rain instead. I had heard that the weekend would be warmer and clear, but we woke up Saturday morning to a light and steady snow fall. It wasn't much by the standards I'm used to, having grown up in the Rocky Mountains, but I never know what is enough shut things down here. Luckily, it stuck to the trees and ground but not to the roads and we made it to the church with no problems. In the end, the snow -- fresh and pure and quiet as it was -- set the perfect tone for the morning.

The ceremony was intimate: My parents flew in for the occasion. One of my sisters and her family drove ~7 hours to be with us despite having a newborn of their own, just 4 weeks old, and despite my BIL having a huge pharmacy school final he had to study for all weekend. I was so touched that they made the effort to come. I wish my entire family had been able to make it, but that's what I get for living 1,500 miles away! On the other side, we had DH's parents, his great aunt and cousin. We missed his sister and nephew, who had a previous commitment, and his uncle, who I suspect was trying to make a political statement by his absence. I know that DH's family has a wide emotional distance to cross when it comes to the subject of our religion, so it meant the world to me to see the ones who did come. I'm also grateful for the friends from our congregation who braved the weather on a Saturday morning to be there for the girls.

We began with Uno. DH spoke first: He talked about how far we've come since the cold, icy day we brought tiny Uno home from a Kansas City hospital -- and suddenly here she was, 8 years old, crazy tall, and ready to step onto the path that will lead her back to our Father in Heaven. He spoke of following Christ's example of baptism by immersion, how it symbolized burying the old self and rising up from the grave / water new and clean and perfect.

I took Uno back to the font, where we waited for DH to change his clothes (Uno already had her "dunking" dress on) and I told her about my own baptism: When I came out of the water as pure as a freshly born baby, as if I had never done anything wrong, ever, I challenged myself to go as long as I possibly could without committing any new sins. All these years later, I don't remember how long my "perfection" lasted (probably not long!), or what my first slip up was, but I remember trying to stretch that moment on forever.

When DH was ready, he led Uno down into the font and I slipped back out to join the congregation. It took just a moment for him to intone the prayer, baptizing her in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, to lay her down in the water and then bring her back up. Then I went back to help her into some dry clothes.

When we returned, it was my turn to speak about the Holy Ghost: DH spoke off the cuff (he's so good at that), but I had written my talk out the night before, using 1 Kings 19:11-12 as my anchor:

...And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

That's one of my favorite bits of scripture; it's poetic and powerful. I told Uno that this world is a noisy place, but that her Heavenly Father -- like her parents here on earth -- wants only the very best for her (and then I got a little choked up, dangit) and that if she could listen to that still, small voice she would be all right.

When I finished, DH laid his hands on Uno's head and gave her a blessing to confer upon her the gift of the Holy Ghost and confirm her an official member of the church, and her part was complete.

Cuatro came next. Whereas baptism is a sacred and essential ordinance, baby blessings are more just a lovely tradition, a chance for the family to publicly welcome their child into the fold. Generally, the father holds the baby surrounded by a circle of other men from the church -- family members and close friends who have been ordained to the priesthood -- and says a prayer over the baby. First, he announces her full name, and then he blesses the baby with all the good things he hopes for her: Health, love, faith, etc. None of DH's family were eligible to participate in the circle (not being members of the church, and therefore not having the priesthood); to be sensitive to that exclusion, my father and BIL (who could have joined in) abstained as well. That left just DH and his baby daughter together, sweet simplicity. He held her and blessed her to grow up strong, to work hard, to have faith and to listen to the still small voice. And then Cuatro's part, too, was complete.

We had light refreshments afterward (Girl Scout cookies and banana slush, at Uno's request) while we all visited. One of our church friends who has lived down the street from DH's parents for years held Cuatro while I flitted around. I paused to ask her if she wanted me to take the baby -- I never want to be an imposition! -- but she said no, and continued talking to my MIL.

"You know," the neighbor said, "it sounds odd to say, but sometimes I wish I had a bit of dementia. I would love to be able to travel back in time and relive those days when my babies were small. They're both in their 40s now. What I wouldn't give to hold my little boy again...."

Oh!! I had to flit off again before the waterworks started.

After cleaning up and leaving the church -- not having ruined our appetites completely with Girl Scout cookies, apparently -- the family met at Ponderosa for lunch, where MIL gave Uno a baptism gift: Her Holy Communion book from (I think) 1956. "I know it's not exactly the same thing," she told Uno, "but when I was about your same age, this was my milestone. The book has prayers in it for you, and pictures and stories of Jesus. I want you to take very good care of it for me." I don't think Uno has any idea what a special and thoughtful gift that is -- particularly given how divisive a subject religion has been between us -- but I hope she will appreciate it some day. I, for one, was extremely touched.

The day after my girls' big day was a milestone for my momma -- her 60th birthday! She came to Primary with me, where the children sang to her and where she got to hear Tres give her first official talk. ("Helly Father has a plan for me: To come to earth; to be in a family; to get bathtized like Uno did, and that's my dad [pointing to a stock photo of somebody -- not her dad -- baptizing a child -- not Uno]; to choose the right like coming to church, reading scriptures, helping with the dishes, and sharing blocks....") We had a little ice cream cake party after church before saying goodbye to my sister, BIL and their kids as they began the ~7 hour drive back home. We got to enjoy the company of my parents for one more day before they, too, had to make a 2 hour drive back to the airport and then a long flight home.

The whole weekend was wonderful, filled with sacred moments and the love of family. I didn't take pictures of any of it at the time -- I still haven't figured out how to be present in the moment and behind the lens at the same time, sadly -- but Uno agreed to put her baptism dress back on (and Cuatro had no choice, woo-ooh-ooh-wah-ah-ah!) for portraits. Uno's dress is new for this go around, but I intend for it to be an heirloom to pass down to each of her sisters as their turn arrives. Cuatro's blessing dress is the one each of the girls before her has worn, and was made by my best friend from scraps of my wedding dress (which itself was made by the mom of my other best friend), so both are very special.

And now for the pictures:








~RCH~