It seems that Fiancee S. and I are going to be Godparents. I wrote here last month about my admiration for my cousin J. and his wife K. It seems that they hold Fiancee S. and me in some regard as well, because they asked us to be the Godparents to their newly born daughter (their third child) Baby Ka.
Fiancee S. and I are thrilled. I believe she is thrilled because it really makes her feel like one of the family. For me, it draws on many fond childhood memories. J. and I grew up around the corner from each other and used to play together (along with his brother Jo.) often as children. It also continues an association between our two families because his mother B. is my Godmother.
I find myself wondering what being a Godparent in this day and age means. I think that in the old days, when famine, plague, and pestilence were more common, it was was useful to have two people in the community available to raise a child should the biological parents die or become incapacitated. It also may have been useful to create a relationship between a child and two people outside the nuclear family unit in order to both be an example and provide advice or counsel as that child grew. Baby Ka. will likely grow up on the other side of the United States from us, and, we probably will not be able to have the kind of Godparent/Godchild relationship that existed in the past. Still, I hope we will be able to know Baby Ka., her parents, and her siblings for many years in the future.
One slightly dark cloud in this otherwise rosy picture involves my sister Sa. Sa. and her husband M. had something of a falling out with J. and K. a few years ago -- not anything angry or impolite, just a drifting apart for reasons that only they seem know. My sister Sa. can be very sensitive about how people perceive her sometimes, and sometimes (and this is only an opinion) draws incorrect and negative conclusions about how people see her. I hope my sister Sa. doesn't see this as some kind of slight because she would have been Godmother to Baby Ka. instead of Fiancee S. if she and M. were on better terms with J. and K.
said drgeek
on 2003-10-27 at 12:54 p.m.
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The Wayback Machine - To Infinity And Beyond
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