Our weekend was full, and that is a word that hardly lends itself to description.
I could whine that the weather was in true and perfect form for Julie and I to have a margarita, chips-n-salsa on the back deck...unfortunately neither of us could create an hour, more or less minute in our crazy Saturday to squeak our traditional show of celebration and observation for the Mexican holiday.
Should I post a picture of A's round two of prom? She wore the same dress and had the same date so it is hardly worth showing off the only things different (the updo, wrist corsage and the vest of the young man's tux).
How about if I post pictures from M's band competition trip to Kansas City. Who wants to see pictures of a herd of 14 yr olds on a coach bus or the pounding rain pictures taken from the bus window (prior to running like bats out of hell to the theater where they competed, grabbing instruments; not there's but any ole' instrument).
So instead I will tell a story which accompanied our gift which we presented to M at the 2007 Confirmation Class Family Gathering/Dinner Sunday evening. (Which if I may add the dessert, a towering 4x3 square of heavy rich chocolate cake with warm thick chocolate fudge dripped atop with a scoop of vanilla ice cream--decadent, heaven at its earthly best).
When we gave Princess A her confirmation gift we wanted her gift to reflect a part of who she was; she was the girl who played her flute at the Saturday evening folk style worship services--so we gifted her with a new opened whole flute. Something she longed to own so she was tickled pink (and we were a few $$$ poorer) and it thrilled us. Making it so worth it.
Now it's M's turn, what to get her??? What is something who reflects who M is? Then I thought she was named with my maternal grandmother's first name as her middle name, I would draw from there. I now had the perfect gift idea in mind. I just needed to find someone willing to create it.
So here goes the story that accompanied our gift presentation (*note the presenter had her usual I-am-proud-of-my-child-hold-back-the-cry-face as she told the story while King Ralph feared he would have to take over the story telling)...
When my grandmother was a little girl attending Hope Lutheran Church on the south side of Chicago one could earn an anchor pin in different metal tones for each grouping of Sundays Sunday school was attended--the first grouping of Sundays earned a bronze anchor, then a silver anchor till you reached the gold anchor. Why an anchor? The anchor is one of the oldest inscriptions to be found in the catacombs, dating back to the second century. During times of persecution, the anchor took the shape of a cross to those who knew its hidden meaning. The anchor is the christian symbol of "hope", hence why Hope Lutheran gifted there youth with the anchor.
In 1932 my grandmother finally earned her gold anchor.
Then in 1940 my grandfather, an 18 yr old young man now employed asked her what she would like as a Christmas gift. She explained to him what she really wanted was probably much to expensive, that she had a dear friend (who had earned her anchor two years prior to her), whose parents had taken the anchor pin and had it set down in black onyx then mounting it in a ring. She always admired her friend's ring, that she also would like the same thing done to her cherished gold anchor.
And so my grandfather did just that, gifted her on Christmas 1940 with her anchor mounted into a ring. Today the ring is among her three most cherished items (the other two being Aunt Lily's punch bowl and the gold locket my grandfather gave her for her 17th birthday).
Since the original ring has now been passed down to someone else we approached our jeweler about recreating the ring. A fete he was both excited and perplexed by how to get a gold anchor-- or a lapidarist willing to set the anchor-- into the onyx (for the record there is not one in the St. Louis area). So after many trips back and forth to the jeweler we agreed on a new symbolic version of my grandmother's anchor ring.
It isn't just like my grandmother's ring but it has the same components, it holds that same special symbolic meaning--a ring to always be worn to remind M in the hope Christ offers; the black onyx, a color which means constancy--being unchanging or unwavering, as in purpose, love, or loyalty; firmness of mind; faithfulness.
Knowing that M is at a crossroad in her life when hope is the very thing she needs to embrace, the ring could not have come at a better time--for her and us. So when she feels like life has set an elephant on her shoulders, a weight unbearable to carry, she can glance down at her hand and remember "hope" is there beckoning to fill her heart--it is near the palm of her hand to reach out for and grasp.
Before I could allow myself to drip tears M unwrapped the ring, turned to me and gave me a kiss, then kissed her daddy. That is when you know you must be doing something okay as a parent...because she was the only confirmand who publicly displayed her affection for her parents.
I could whine that the weather was in true and perfect form for Julie and I to have a margarita, chips-n-salsa on the back deck...unfortunately neither of us could create an hour, more or less minute in our crazy Saturday to squeak our traditional show of celebration and observation for the Mexican holiday.
Should I post a picture of A's round two of prom? She wore the same dress and had the same date so it is hardly worth showing off the only things different (the updo, wrist corsage and the vest of the young man's tux).
How about if I post pictures from M's band competition trip to Kansas City. Who wants to see pictures of a herd of 14 yr olds on a coach bus or the pounding rain pictures taken from the bus window (prior to running like bats out of hell to the theater where they competed, grabbing instruments; not there's but any ole' instrument).
So instead I will tell a story which accompanied our gift which we presented to M at the 2007 Confirmation Class Family Gathering/Dinner Sunday evening. (Which if I may add the dessert, a towering 4x3 square of heavy rich chocolate cake with warm thick chocolate fudge dripped atop with a scoop of vanilla ice cream--decadent, heaven at its earthly best).
When we gave Princess A her confirmation gift we wanted her gift to reflect a part of who she was; she was the girl who played her flute at the Saturday evening folk style worship services--so we gifted her with a new opened whole flute. Something she longed to own so she was tickled pink (and we were a few $$$ poorer) and it thrilled us. Making it so worth it.
Now it's M's turn, what to get her??? What is something who reflects who M is? Then I thought she was named with my maternal grandmother's first name as her middle name, I would draw from there. I now had the perfect gift idea in mind. I just needed to find someone willing to create it.
So here goes the story that accompanied our gift presentation (*note the presenter had her usual I-am-proud-of-my-child-hold-back-the-cry-face as she told the story while King Ralph feared he would have to take over the story telling)...
When my grandmother was a little girl attending Hope Lutheran Church on the south side of Chicago one could earn an anchor pin in different metal tones for each grouping of Sundays Sunday school was attended--the first grouping of Sundays earned a bronze anchor, then a silver anchor till you reached the gold anchor. Why an anchor? The anchor is one of the oldest inscriptions to be found in the catacombs, dating back to the second century. During times of persecution, the anchor took the shape of a cross to those who knew its hidden meaning. The anchor is the christian symbol of "hope", hence why Hope Lutheran gifted there youth with the anchor.
In 1932 my grandmother finally earned her gold anchor.
Then in 1940 my grandfather, an 18 yr old young man now employed asked her what she would like as a Christmas gift. She explained to him what she really wanted was probably much to expensive, that she had a dear friend (who had earned her anchor two years prior to her), whose parents had taken the anchor pin and had it set down in black onyx then mounting it in a ring. She always admired her friend's ring, that she also would like the same thing done to her cherished gold anchor.
And so my grandfather did just that, gifted her on Christmas 1940 with her anchor mounted into a ring. Today the ring is among her three most cherished items (the other two being Aunt Lily's punch bowl and the gold locket my grandfather gave her for her 17th birthday).
Since the original ring has now been passed down to someone else we approached our jeweler about recreating the ring. A fete he was both excited and perplexed by how to get a gold anchor-- or a lapidarist willing to set the anchor-- into the onyx (for the record there is not one in the St. Louis area). So after many trips back and forth to the jeweler we agreed on a new symbolic version of my grandmother's anchor ring.
It isn't just like my grandmother's ring but it has the same components, it holds that same special symbolic meaning--a ring to always be worn to remind M in the hope Christ offers; the black onyx, a color which means constancy--being unchanging or unwavering, as in purpose, love, or loyalty; firmness of mind; faithfulness.
Knowing that M is at a crossroad in her life when hope is the very thing she needs to embrace, the ring could not have come at a better time--for her and us. So when she feels like life has set an elephant on her shoulders, a weight unbearable to carry, she can glance down at her hand and remember "hope" is there beckoning to fill her heart--it is near the palm of her hand to reach out for and grasp.
Before I could allow myself to drip tears M unwrapped the ring, turned to me and gave me a kiss, then kissed her daddy. That is when you know you must be doing something okay as a parent...because she was the only confirmand who publicly displayed her affection for her parents.
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