Mass Happiness

Today I went to Mass with John and Lily, and said a prayer to St. Anthony (we have a side altar for him) about my headaches. As it seems either a lost cause, or the lost thing I can't find is my health, he seemed like the go-to saint. I felt both serious and slightly cheeky about it, which seemed right. Gotta keep that sense of humour. And wonder.

Lily was slightly more than average on the squirm-o-meter, and very talkative. As we walked in, a woman in choir robes stopped mid-sentence talking to someone and said, looking at Lily, "Oh, there's the little girl." When I looked at her, wondering (it's a big congregation, several thousand families, so for Lily to be the little girl was interesting), she addressed me, adding, "I always love watching her, she's so cute."

This meant a lot to me, because I remember the many years before I had a child, watching other children playing, thinking how wonderful they were. Now someone else is thinking that about my child! How cool is that? Of course I always think Lily's the most fabulous child in the whole church every time we go to Mass. I love hearing her chatty little voice ring out in the silences, and how no one turns around shushing her, at least not in the this church, as our motto (I know it's called something else, but "motto" is easier to remember) is "Make a joyful noise."