This
is a journey of finding yourself and how your loved ones see you in
their eyes. Further, this can be online and carried forward to share,
if you wish, to future generations. - See more at:
http://joannfitz.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-book-of-me-written-by-you-topic-1.html#sthash.2TuO2bVu.dpuf
This
is a journey of finding yourself and how your loved ones see you in
their eyes. Further, this can be online and carried forward to share,
if you wish, to future generations. - See more at:
http://joannfitz.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/the-book-of-me-written-by-you-topic-1.html#sthash.2TuO2bVu.dpuf
The prompt for the week is:Godparents
- Did / Do your Godparents feature a great deal in your life
- Do you know your Godparents?
- How do they link in to your family?
- Other stories or influences from your Godparents
- Are you Godparents to anyone?
I guess the best way to start this prompt would be to state the facts as I know them.
Facts:
- I was baptized as Catholic or Roman Catholic sometime in the last part of 1972.
- The baptism was done at St. Patrick's Church in Newburgh, New York.
- I did/do have godparents; however I do not know, for certain, who these are. My oldest sister, Theresa, said that she wanted to be one but my mother told her she was too young.
- My baby book, which was given to me by my mother, was destroyed in a house fire in May 1997, before I had a chance to read it.
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| May 1997 newspaper about the fire |
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| From St. Patrick's Flickr page |
I have tried to contact St. Patrick's in the past and have never received a response. I will have to try and contact them again to see if I can get a copy of the certificate. It would be interesting to see who my godparents are/were.
Note to self: Contact St. Patrick's again for certificate.
Religion in my life
Growing up, religion was never a big part of my life. I have always put it down to something to do with my grandmother Janet or everyone was just too busy to go. As far as I can remember, I've never regularly gone to church. My grandmother Janet was apparently almost consumed with praying and the church, to the point where this was a major factor when they put her into a mental hospital. I think this played a major factor into how church was looked at with myself and my siblings.
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| Trinity Lutheran Church where I went a few times growing up |
Growing up, I have gone to many of the different religious churches and/or places. I have always been curious and gave almost everything a try at one point. I did not convert, but I went and watched the different services and sometimes even went to Sunday school which was weird because I wondered why kids would go to more school on the weekend when they didn't have to.
While in high school, I was always too busy to go. This does seem like a cop out, but when you need money to survive to live, sometimes you must make sacrifices. During these times and into college, I was either in class, studying, or working. The little time that was left over I spent sleeping, making meals or shopping for food. There was no other time left.
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| The alter at St. Patrick's where my grandmother and uncle's funerals were held |
I do remember when my grandmother passed away, my uncle had to talk to St. Patrick's in order for my grandmother's services to be held there. My uncle attended the church every Sunday without fail. Then when came the time for my uncle's services, they had the full service. I still remember this day as it was very hot out and someone in the group asked if they walked in would the church fall down on them because they haven't been in so long. It was funny, in a way, the way it was said because we were all in the same thinking area.
To Believe or not to Believe
I do believe in everything that is Catholic and, for the most part, support it. The only thing I don't do is go to church. That being said, were were not married in the church, only because of the look we wanted and because my husband has never been baptized to his knowledge. We also didn't want to sit through classes, and didn't have the time, due to immigration restrictions.
It was these beliefs, in the thoughts of trying for children, make things so hard. I still remember the day it was confirmed I was pregnant. Then came the tiny bit of spotting. Upon going into the hospital, they found the baby was in my tube - ectopic pregnancy. There was only one way to save my life - to take the baby's. No way, no how that's how I felt and they knew a battle was on as it went against all of my religious beliefs. Then it came to me, the Pope had revised the views - if it was to save the life of the mother. I was still against it, but understood it was ok by the church but my convictions still, even to this day, say it shouldn't have happened. True, I would be gone, but at least I wouldn't then have to deal with the guilt of killing a baby. Again, this is to do with faith as well as myself internally.
Respect of Each Other
Everyone either believes or doesn't believe in religion. Everyone is different in the ways they look at things. I have friends that are of all faiths - ones that don't believe at all through to the ones that believe and they attend the faith of their heart sometimes many times a week. To me it doesn't matter as its just apart of the person. The persons I have a hard time with are the ones that continuously state over and over again and won't talk about anything else but their chosen religion. To me, these people sound like they are trying to brain wash others to their way of thinking and that's just not right.
