Old School

St. Mary Magdalen

Went to my old catholic school for mass today. The homily the deacon gave really spoke to me. I havent been here in over 25 years. Talk about a flash back. I went to school here kindergarten thru 4th maybe 5th grade. I wandered around the school after mass and outside. The place hasnt changed at all. Everything looks exactly the same just smaller. I remember the boys had to wear uniforms with blue pants, a white collared shirt, and a green sweater. The girls had to wear green and blue plaid skirts and tops with a white collared shirt. I wonder if the kids still have to wear those? The morals and values that i learned here really shaped me as a person.

After mass i went to my mothers side of the family Christmas party. This year they decided to rent a hall for the event. My mothers family is huge! She has 2 brothers and 2 sisters all of which are married and have at least 3 to 4 kids each. And almost every kid is married and has 2 to 4 of there own kids and every year at least 1 of my cousins a pregnant. This year 2 of them were. It adds up to about 30 or 50 people and kids sometimes depending on who shows. Almost everybody was there this year with about 20 kids running around like crazy. I held my sisters kid while she ate. Shes a funny little thing. I bounced her on my knee and poked her chubby belly. Holding her and seeing some of the other dads with there young kids made me feel like i was missing out on something very special. As grandpa would say "If ya dont plant a seed it wont grow." They had a special treat this year when Santa showed up out of the blue and gave all the kids presents and scared some of them half to death and made them cry.
My uncle had turned a bunch of old super 8 movies from 1976 to video and was showing them. He had extensive video of me when i was 3 years old opening Christmas presents and running around. I had a massive head of black bushy hair back then and it was way out of control. For some reason i kept putting my finger on my tongue over and over again, weird. On a odd note in the video there was this guy i didnt recognize. It turned out to be my brothers true father. Its a good thing he wasnt there he may have freaked out some. Some origin stories were spilled by a drunken grandpa at Christmas a few years back, but thats another story.
Speaking of grandpa he was in true form as always. I love that old man. He had some words of wisdom for me. Regarding a tough period that he and grandma went thru some years back. He said "Love is never easy you always gotta work at it. Sometimes ya give, sometimes ya take, and sometimes ya really screw up. But if ya love each other you can always work it out. Me and your grandma have been married some 60 +years and we have had plenty of rough times. We love each other and have always worked it out with the Lords help." Both of them were wondering were a certain person was. Its almost the first things they asked when i saw them.
As always before i leave i say goodbye to the patriarchs of the family grandma and grandpa. I couldnt imagine a Christmas or Thanksgiving without them. Grandma could sense i was feeling kinda down she gave me a big hug and kissed my on the cheek for the first time that i can remember and told me she loved me. It felt good. It reminds me of something that i should do more often to those i love.