Life

It all started when I scheduled Genevieve's Baptism.  

Her godmother-to-be mentioned a weekend that they'd be available, then a few days passed.  I looked at the calendar and saw that Blake and Owen were scheduled to serve a Saturday evening Mass that weekend, and a few more days passed.  I called Father Joe to find out if he'd be available that evening.  He would be, and he agreed to baptize our little sweetness following the Mass. 

 

 I hung up the phone, and went to write it on the calendar, and only then did I realize the significance of the date we had just scheduled.  It was only a week away, it was to be Genevieve's one-month "birthday", and it was the Feast of the Nativity of our Blessed Mother.  What an awesome day to be born into new life with Christ.

 

On Monday of that week before the Baptism, we learned that my grandma was not doing well.  My devoted mother began a vigil at her bedside, and by Thursday we knew the end was near.  Another call to Father Joe brought her the Anointing of the Sick, and we continued to watch her slip away.  By Friday, the doctor said it would be a matter of hours.  I began a silent prayer.  A prayer of my heart, that I wouldn't have shared with anyone but my heavenly parents.  The hours passed.  Early Saturday morning we got word that her life on earth had ended.  She had begun her new life on September 8th, the Blessed Mother's birthday.  My prayer had been answered.  My tears were happy, as her suffering had ended and I recognized that even in death our Almighty God is orchestrating a blessed symphony for us to live.

It was almost surreal, going through the familiar practices of Mass and Baptism that evening.  

 

The same hands that had anointed my grandma, brought new life to my first daughter through the Water and the Holy Spirit.  

 

There with us, through it all, was our Mother Mary.  As we rejoiced in the gift from God that she is, we knew that she was with my Abuela as well, welcoming her, as she began her new life.