Jaye Marie and Anita Dawes

Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

The Family Christening…

The weather report was horrendous, with wall-to-wall rain all day, adding to the misery of the freezing cold. Not exactly the kind of day for a family gathering in a draughty old church…

After missing the family birthday celebrations the week before, we were all determined to do our best to make the day special.

We arrived at the church first, and it was empty. For one horrible moment, we wondered if we were in the right place. An ancient church that needed repair and a long mop for some of the cobwebs. It was cold in there, and a puddle of water in front of the altar would indicate they had a leak. Not a very impressive start…

Gradually, the family gathered. Some faces were familiar to us, others not, for we don’t socialise with most of our in-laws. We meet at weddings and other occasions and have a nodding relationship at best. Plus, we don’t get out much these days…

Today, we were there to christen our two great-granddaughters, a four-year-old and the new baby. They arrived last and looked adorable, dressed in white with matching white fur jackets.

When the service began, the vicar had to compete with the baby, who decided it was time for her lunch feed, no matter what else was going on. How many other babies had been breastfed in a cold and draughty church?

The vicar didn’t seem put out in the slightest and made jokes about the mistake of choosing lunchtime for the service.

The service was short and sweet, and everyone gathered around the font to join in with the blessing…

The second part of the day was lunch at the nearby public house, another equally old building practically drowning in old pewter beer mugs and horse brasses.

Once out of the cold and rain, everyone relaxed, and the party started. We were all in one room, and space was at a premium, but after much hilarious organising, we all managed to sit down to await our lunch.

It was a lovely afternoon; the conversation flowed, and we got to know the outer reaches of our family better. The children rearranged the seating so they could have their own table, and I watched them play with the colouring books and crayons provided. They were interacting with each other, some of them for the first time, and I was reminded of how a family is supposed to work…