Easter Vigil Thank Yous

Emotionally, last night felt like a wedding. It fuzzed and flurried by and then it was over. But now that it is over, I remember it strongly and happily, even though I was preoccupied with saying or doing the wrong thing the whole time. It was a night that I will never forget.

I asked Grandma Sheila to watch the kids so that Nan could be there. Nan believes that all "religions" are the same, and so it's not a 'big deal' for her. But if it is important to me, she wants to be there for me. It's nice to have someone like that.

Plus I needed her to sit with Lee. Of everyone that was there to support me last night, Lee was obviously foremost. This has actually affected him, and will continue to affect him. He has sacrificially given up his sacred Monday nights with his best friend for the better part of eight months. Lee's not really doctrinally opposedto the church, but he thinks that the church has done so much evil throughout history (such as the crusades and the spanish inquisition) that it is a corrupt institution run by corrupt men. He thinks that about a lot of things, it's nothing personal. He likes to say he is an equal opportunity hater. Anyway, he also just doesn't like sitting through two hours of pomp and circumstance. What was my point again? Oh, yeah, my point was, despite his general dislike for the Catholic church and his dislike of anything structured and/or ceremonial, he was there for me last night because he loves me and supports me, no other reason. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. I know you'll never read this, Lee, but thank you. You are my best friend and I don't know if I could have done this without your support. You are amazing.

He did say he liked the incense though :)

My parents were there, too, with a couple of my brothers. I was never sure if I should invite them or not. My joining the Catholic church is not exactly a celebratory matter for them. They love me and they know that my faith is sincere, but they are not Catholics nor did they [intentionally] raise me to be a Catholic [although most of the reasons I became a Catholic are because of their raisin'!! but that's a story for my book, lol]. But I decided to ask them to come because they are my parents and we love each other. I didn't want something that was so important to me to exclude them. It just wouldn't be the same.

But they were amazing. My dad looked the vigil up ahead of time and found out what the readings were. My mom was really nervous. I didn't know where they were at first but then I heard Mommi cough! If they were upset, they didn't show it. They were really nice and positive about the whole thing, and even gave me a very special present that I am going to write a separate blog post about. They got me a card that was very appropriate and had the whole family sign it. They made me feel so loved and supported. Thank you guys. I felt like you were looking at the good things instead of the bad and that means so much to your kid. It takes master-level parenting skills to be so supportive. It meant so much to me.

And then there was my sponsor, Michelle. Michelle is a friend of my mom's who has become my friend now, too. She's an adoptive mom like mom. When she found out that I wanted to be in the RCIA program last year, she made it easy for me to go by offering to go along with me. She has prayed for me and alongside me, answered questions for me, and related her own experiences to help me. She has been everything a sponsor should be. Originally I thought I would be one of those people who had to ask one of the teachers to be my sponsor - but instead I got a great friend and a real helper!

Well, this has turned into a let's thank the academy speech, so I'm going to close it an open up another entry to run a quick narrative so I can try to remember what happened instead of the whole thank you thing. Obviously, I am a very grateful girl.