I gave away a ring; a finger rosary actually. I was given the ring 21 years ago by my sponsor on the occasion of my adult confirmation. A few years ago, when I sponsored a teen in his confirmation, I gave the ring to him. I asked if he could keep it going by giving it to someone if he's a sponsor. So there's no telling where the ring, given to me by Pat and Maria, will end up.
Besides doing whatever we think we should to keep a candidate on the right path, there is usually not a lot for a sponsor to do after confirmation. This could explain why I've only seen my candidate once since confirmation, at the funeral of his mom. If I felt he was the kind of kid that needed more than just my prayers, I would've done a better job of keeping in touch.
I chose to ask Pat and Maria to sponsor my confirmation even though I didn't know them. I saw their dedication to God and took that as enough of a sign. Getting their baby, Angela, ready and making it to 7:00 mass
every day told me they knew something more about worship than I did.
As busy as I was working two jobs, it should be no surprise that I lost touch with my sponsors. I got married and had kids. Pat and Maria had another child. Then another. Another and another. Eight more children after Angela. I talked to them once by phone after reading
Laurel Walker's 2002 column on the family but haven't seen them in 21 years. Until today.
Add reunions to the many benefits of quarterly St. Vincent De Paul breakfast meetings. I always enjoy seeing new prayer spaces and meeting new priests among the 26 parishes in Waukesha County the meetings rotate among. I knew Pat and Maria used to attend St. Luke's, today's destination, and found they still do. I was thrilled to see them and their beautiful children - of the eight girls and one boy they have, all but three girls were with them at the mass.
I was so thrilled to see them and meet the kids after all the years that I invited myself to their home, using the gift of an accordian as an excuse. I remembered Laurel mentioning their musical giftedness. I knew I had this instrument I'll never play taking up space in the basement, so I offered it to them.
I really wanted to take my whole family but only my oldest child complied. Their home, hidden in the woods, is beautiful. It's large and tidy and the girls were doing their homework on the kitchen table. The large accordian, almost as big as the youngest child, was passed around and Pat played a recognizable tune. We had a good visit.
Even though we haven't seen one another, Pat and Maria taught me a lot about family, faith and perseverance in the face of adversity. As if holding together a family of 11 wasn't enough, Maria suffered brain damage following the birth of her last child. She had gone into cardiac arrest after doctors couldn't locate the source of internal bleeding. When I last saw her she was a new mom breast-feeding a dependent baby Angela. Today she is a still a wonderful mom, but now is more dependent on her children. All nine of them.
I learned valuable lessons about family and faith from Pat and Maria which I hope to pass along to the next generation. This year I was asked to be a catechist for teens preparing for confirmation, and I gladly accepted. I'll be there to ask and answer questions, and I know they'll have lots of questions. There's 150 of them the kids have to answer before confirmation next spring! I might be able to help.
