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First Communion
Apr. 6th, 2008 12:20 amRosa made her first communion today. I went to the ceremony/mass at her father's invitation, and also to the get-together afterwards at my ex-in-laws' house. There's something weird and creepy to me about dressing little bitty girls in kid-sized wedding dresses, complete with veils (optional, but all but two girls had them). And why is it the little boys just get suits and ties?
But I have to admit that Rosa did look quite adorable. I noticed right away that the headpiece was the same one I wore for my wedding, which was also the same headpiece from Ray's mother's wedding. The veil wasn't the same one; mine had been ivory. But for one of our anniversaries, the inlaws created a memory shadowbox with a white veil in it. That one, trimmed for her height, is the veil Rosa wore. Her dress was the most ornate of all the little girls.
I have a few pictures from the pew, but no closeups. I planned to take pictures at the house afterward, but by the time I got there she had already stripped out of the fancy dress. Daddy-n-co are going to take her for formal portraits in it; I hope to score one of those.
Anyway. Ceremony. The church completely failed to be struck by lightning due to my presence, and everything went off very well. The best thing about it was that the priest made his homily second-grade-level, for the kids, and walked up and down the aisle with a cordless microphone while he preached it. He asked questions, and the children answered them. He started off by talking about how many different special people were present for this mass, visiting priests, seminarians, etc, and then asked what other special people were there. Rosa was called on for this question, and she said, "Everyone is special but no one is perfect."
I was impressed. I did cynically suspect that the answer was primed, that she was a plant, but as the homily went on and other kids answered other questions with words that were clearly their own, I thought maybe she had thought it up herself. Asked her later and she said it was all her.
The church had printed up a flyer of the kid's letters to Jesus on the occasion of their first communion. Rosa's says
The after party was quite nice, really. I was worried about tension and so forth, but everyone was welcoming. Youngest brother--whom I probably haven't seen for four years--hugged me. So did Ray, actually.
Ray, however, was on his most obnoxious behavior. He made a remark about how women should always be kept at home. I said, in my brightest cheeriest voice to the room at large, "And now you know why we aren't married anymore!"
Later, he demanded that his mother get him a chair. She told him to get it himself, and he just kept at her about how she should do it. She said, "I'm setting boundaries here. I don't even serve your dad like that, I definitely won't do it for you." Every one else said stuff like good for her and they'd never expect anything like that from their spouse. I said something about there being a difference between mutually helping each other out and expecting service.
Ochi got presents. All her Catholic relatives got her religious-y stuff, a children's bible, a rosary, that kind of thing. I got her dress-up fairy wings that you decorate yourself with the supplied glitter glue, sequins, beads etc. She immediately set herself up at a tray table and fixed the wings up.
But I have to admit that Rosa did look quite adorable. I noticed right away that the headpiece was the same one I wore for my wedding, which was also the same headpiece from Ray's mother's wedding. The veil wasn't the same one; mine had been ivory. But for one of our anniversaries, the inlaws created a memory shadowbox with a white veil in it. That one, trimmed for her height, is the veil Rosa wore. Her dress was the most ornate of all the little girls.
I have a few pictures from the pew, but no closeups. I planned to take pictures at the house afterward, but by the time I got there she had already stripped out of the fancy dress. Daddy-n-co are going to take her for formal portraits in it; I hope to score one of those.
Anyway. Ceremony. The church completely failed to be struck by lightning due to my presence, and everything went off very well. The best thing about it was that the priest made his homily second-grade-level, for the kids, and walked up and down the aisle with a cordless microphone while he preached it. He asked questions, and the children answered them. He started off by talking about how many different special people were present for this mass, visiting priests, seminarians, etc, and then asked what other special people were there. Rosa was called on for this question, and she said, "Everyone is special but no one is perfect."
I was impressed. I did cynically suspect that the answer was primed, that she was a plant, but as the homily went on and other kids answered other questions with words that were clearly their own, I thought maybe she had thought it up herself. Asked her later and she said it was all her.
The church had printed up a flyer of the kid's letters to Jesus on the occasion of their first communion. Rosa's says
| "Dear Jesus, I am a little bit afraid of my First Communion so...It's really good that you are with me all First Communion. I really do not like the taste of the wine. Can you help? Your friend, Rosa" |
The after party was quite nice, really. I was worried about tension and so forth, but everyone was welcoming. Youngest brother--whom I probably haven't seen for four years--hugged me. So did Ray, actually.
Ray, however, was on his most obnoxious behavior. He made a remark about how women should always be kept at home. I said, in my brightest cheeriest voice to the room at large, "And now you know why we aren't married anymore!"
Later, he demanded that his mother get him a chair. She told him to get it himself, and he just kept at her about how she should do it. She said, "I'm setting boundaries here. I don't even serve your dad like that, I definitely won't do it for you." Every one else said stuff like good for her and they'd never expect anything like that from their spouse. I said something about there being a difference between mutually helping each other out and expecting service.
Ochi got presents. All her Catholic relatives got her religious-y stuff, a children's bible, a rosary, that kind of thing. I got her dress-up fairy wings that you decorate yourself with the supplied glitter glue, sequins, beads etc. She immediately set herself up at a tray table and fixed the wings up.
