the ocean

My niece had her first communion today. She was really into it, though perhaps not for the most devout of reasons. She loved wearing the white dress and getting her nails done and having everyone pay attention to her. I did hear her remark that there were "so many rules to remember," which seemed to be to be a pretty fair introduction to Catholicism. But she did a near flawless job of marching up to that altar and taking the bread and wine on offer. She didn't like the taste of the wine, but I reassured her that this was the cheap stuff. Years from now I think she will feel differently.

When my nephew had his first communion three years ago, it was in a big, elaborate church with organ music and a bishop (I think, ranks both religious and military are tough for me to discern sometimes) and lots of pomp and circumstance. Since then, my sister and her family have discovered what they call "woke church," which is a family mass held in a school gymnasium where children are allowed to run free and acoustic guitars rule the roost. So this was a much more casual, welcoming affair, which is of course not my cup of tea. Personally, I am terrified by the thought of having to talk to people at church and the COVID-era removal of having to actually shake people's hands to give them the peace of Christ was a big plus for me. But it has been wonderful for my sister's family (and the bread was homemade and absolute fire), so I'm all for it.

There was also dinner at a Mexican restaurant of my niece's choosing afterwards, which turned out to have a Mariachi concert going on all afternoon. So it has been a journey. I feel fully equipped to return to the land of legal heathens in the morning.