Like Those Who Have Gone Before Us

I was just "thumbing" through photos and noticed an option to "blog this". I decided to click it to see what would happen. I found myslef on my blog which I've been meaning to resurrect--so here I am resurrecting it with the photo I happened to click on. Lucky, lucky, it's a photo taken by my SIL who is a professional photographer. This photo was taken in the Spring of 2008 when Meagan made her first communion.

I love how things like families, churches, and schools help us to pass traditions to our children. There aren't a lot of photos of my mom in her youth, but the ones we have are priceless. One of my favorites is of her on her First Communion day, all dressed in white, with a white veil, holding a candle and a rosary. She is about 7 years old in the photo. I too made my communion at about age 7. We lived in Hawaii and maybe it was because it was the 70's or maybe it was because my mom was a bit of rebel (or maybe both); but my mom dressed me in a blue dress with a flower lei around my neck and adorning my head. All the other girls wore white dresses. There is a group photo and in the sea of kids who made their first communion, it's very easy to pick me out. I'm the blue dot adroned with flowers in a sea of little white dresses and little black suits. When it came time for Meagan to make her First Communion, I asked my mom for the veil she had worn and white dress my grandma made for my mom out of WWII parachute material. My mom came through and Meagan looked just precious in her grandmother's dress and veil. I remember getting choked up as I watched her receive her First Communion, knowing that she was taking part in a ritual passed down to her from a long line of women who had also had this special rite of passage as a young girl in a pretty white (or blue) dress. I sensed that through this rite of passage her connection to her mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and a rich line of ancestors was strengthened. Perhaps we share such traditions with our children not only for the tradtion itself, but also for the way in which the tradition connects us to those who have gone before us.