A Baptism and a Castle

"If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another."  ~Tenzen Gyatso

Last summer, I got a potted flower plant at Lowes.  I killed it in less than a week.  That's not true.  I killed three potted plants from Lowes at three different times during the summer.  I don't have a dog.  Or a cat.  Not even a fish.  I think that this makes it clear that I am unable to bear responsibility for another living thing.  Most days, it's all I can do to get myself out of the house with my glasses on, teeth brushed, hair looking halfway presentable with matching shoes on the correct feet.

Given this, when Coach A asked me to be her baby's God Mother, I thought she had lost her mind.  "She hasn't seen the flowers," I thought to myself.  Fortunately, she offered me the title before she came to her senses, and just like that, I became responsible for part of this precious baby's life.  (You might remember my blog about the trauma of her birth...)

On Sunday, GBaby was baptized in a tiny church in Colorado.  The same building, and the same priest, who baptized her mom 30 years before.  The day was beautiful.  Her family all lined up in the front pews.  GBaby looking precious in her gown.  And the God Parents doing their duties---I managed to stand in front of the congregation whilst not dropping the squirmy baby in a slippery dress and GodFather did not catch her on fire with the candle (please note my concerned look towards him with that candle in the bottom right photo below!).  We pulled it off like champs.

Fittingly, the homily given at the baptism Mass talked about gifts.  Specifically, how you can think that you're giving a gift to one person, when in reality that person is giving a gift to you.  I can assure you that whatever gift I am able to provide to GBaby as her God Mother will be, and has already been, returned exponentially to me.  Being part of this baby's life, being included in the important events for this family, being entrusted with such an amazing responsbility....those are gifts that I will never be able to repay.

Anyway, after the baptism, we headed to see "the castle" that I've heard Coach A and her brothers talk about for years.  I learned that it was built by some crazy man (who I was forbidden to talk to by The God Father before we arrived) by hand over the last 20 years.  Y'all.  This place was nuts.  If you're ever near Colorado City, Colorado, you have to go see Bishop's Castle.  So we walked around and climbed up to the top of the castle.  Now, let me make clear.  I am not scared of heights.  I am, however, scared of shoddy welding.  I'm a mechanic's daughter, after all.  When I stepped on a broken step and then crawled up onto the little ball at the top of the castle that was seriously freaking moving with the wind, I had just about enough.  We snapped a quick photo specifically for this very blog, and I hightailed it back down to the ground!

It couldn't have been a better weekend with GBaby and her family.  Clearly flowers aren't my thing. Maybe Godchildren are.