In the House of God, which prevails, Cheerios or Puffs?
Taking John's niece and nephew to Mass today, I was reminded of a memorable experience w/JW and how we get so much wiser as we get older.
As all parents learn, when you want to keep a one-year-old quiet for a period of time such as an hour-long Mass, the best option is always food. For JW, it was a small container of dry Cheerios. For his nephew and namesake, it's Puffs.
Thirty-six years ago, we were attending Epiphany Parish in Brick, NJ. It was a brand new parish - thus, it did not even have it's own church building. Instead, Sunday Mass was held in the gym of the local high school.
Today, we attended Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, a Franciscan parish in Triangle, VA. And instead of Cheerios, John's nephew had Puffs.
Way back when, somehow, in the middle of Mass, JW managed to drop the entire bowl of Cheerios on the gym floor. Being a smooth wood floor, the Cheerios went flying anywhere and everywhere to the notice of just about everyone. There was no way to gracefully recover from such an event.
Puffs, of course, are much lighter. In addition, the church today had carpeting rather than wood floors. Most important of all, John's nephew's grandparents gave him only two puffs at a time, rather than a whole bowlful.
Much has changed, not the least of which is the wisdom of John's parents.
Photos of JW and his namesake at comparable ages are below.
1 comment:
I love this blog.. and the comparable pictures. Great post dad.
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