Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Tip: Keeping up with Godchildren

As a child, I didn't know my godparents well. My Madrina Che (Mom's sister) lived in Puerto Rico and I’ve only seen her a handful of times in my life. (I was lucky enough to spend a few days with her this past month.) My Padrino Dave (Dad's brother) I saw more often on holiday visits, but never knew well until I worked for him a few summers in college. I also never felt any spiritual companioning from them, which is supposed to be part of godparenthood.

Now I am Godmother to several children and I want to be more present in their lives, which is hard since we move often and they are scattered across the country. So I write them postcards. I buy them cheap at yard sales or thrift shops, and address and stamp a dozen or so at a time. Then I put them in my bills holder and each payday when I'm writing checks, I take the next postcard and write a quick note. Some are newsy, some just say that I'm thinking and praying for them. If I'm in the mood, I'll write to more than one--post cards only take 5 minutes, especially since I've prepared them already. Thus each godchild gets something from Godmother at least once a quarter.

They love it, even the toddler Marie. Her mom puts the postcard on her dinner plate the day it arrives, and she just glows from getting a special treat from Godmother. ne Godchild has even started writing me back. I hope that by sharing snippets of my life with them, they will one day share their lives with me, and that we might become companions on the Path of Faith.

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