Elena 
What’s going on at My Domestic Church
I really hate winter. But I can’t complain too much because for mid January we have had really great weather. Sweater weather. And you appreciate it too because you know that old man winter isn’t gone but just hiding out and any day now we’re going to be socked in with a foot of snow and it will be time for the heavy coats and boots again.
I finally got to see Calvin swim on the high school team. I do not think that I can be entirely objective here, but I thought when he jumped off the block it was a Kodak moment. The kind of split second that if I had a great camera (and if I was a great photographer) I could have captured a beautiful image of my son sailing over the water with his arms and legs extended and streamlined, poised to enter the water. I get choked up thinking about it. I remember the stubborn 3-year-old boy he was not so long ago. The little boy who refused to let go of me in the water and pulled my bathing suit top off as I tried to wrestle him off of me and into the water… sigh. I was about 6 months pregnant with Sam when that happened. Gave the other folks in the pool quit an eyeful!!
And now he’s diving in with grace and agility and doing a 100 freestyle in under a minute!
On the flip side, he had to work his well-conditioned butt off this week getting all of his academic school work done so that he can stay on this swim team! Mr. Pete and I were on his back all week about getting his work done and under a lot of pressure with a lot of duress, he pulled it off!! I hope he is not like this every semester.
Sam is soon to be 13. He is almost my height. He is just gorgeous. And kind. He spends about as much time with baby Rosie as I do. She loves him too. You can see it in her face and in how her body relaxes when he picks her up. Sam carries her so naturally on his hip and in his arms. I love to watch him be a brother to her.
He has a great opportunity to get free organ lessons. There is a church in our area that offers free lessons to students (we have to pay for organ shoes and music) and in return they have to play for mass once they are trained. He is going to audition for the music director and the priest on the 21st, the day before his 13th birthday!!
Gabe will finish his indoor soccer season on Saturday. They have had a perfect record- they didn’t win once. They did however get their butts kicked by better teams and I think that was a learning experience. You can’t play up against players like this and not have some of it rub off on you as far as developing your skills and strategies. I like this little team. The parents are so friendly and we are starting to gel into a little community. They don’t make me and Mr. Pete feel like the “grandparents” of the group. In fact there is another man with a son on the team who is older than us. Everyone just gets along. After the game we’re having a pizza party and I’m looking forward to it very much.
The community center is also having its Medieval Art classes again and this time Gabe was old enough to enroll Since he is doing that. I decided to read the “Midwife’s Apprentice” with him, just like I did for Sam two years ago. I even found this link to go with the book. He is very excited about it and we’re looking forward to the feast.
Sam and I went out to the cemetery today to visit Raphael. I also wanted to pick up the little lamps we left there over Christmas. These lights lasted for 100 hours and it was really neat to see them shining away in the darkness. I guess they just need new batteries and they’ll be good to go next year.
There were two new babies out there. One of them had passed away on Christmas day. I wish I knew who the mother was. I hope I get to meet her out there sometime so that I can introduce myself and give her a hug. I felt so blessed to have my stillborn baby on All Saints Day. It cheered me somehow and I felt like it was an honor for my baby. I hope she feels that way about Christmas. I hope that going through something so tragic doesn’t ruin Christmas for her for the rest of her life. I don’t know who this lady is but I’m going to pray for her. It’s really rough.
I was telling Sam today that I’m glad the kids all love Rosie, and that I’m happy we had a chance to have her. There’s nothing that will break your heart like losing a baby. Having this baby is the only medicine that could ever dull that ache and make my arms feel full again. One baby doesn’t replace another I suppose, but nothing else can take ease the pain of losing one child except having a child.
An odd end to an odd week. I’m feeling a little melancholy about this thing with my cousin and the winter blahs. There’s much more to this story with my cousin. I think the whole story of my dad and mother and how it all relates is a fascinating story. I might start tearing it down into bite sized chunks over the next few days, for my own mulling purposes, but also because it is a great story.
But hey, just to end on a bright spot… how about those confirmation hearings? Biden and Kennedy couldn’t have looked any dumber if they had tried, and Judge Alito came out looking competent and very judicial. Next week should be as interesting as this one.
