Alexander and Charles are Baptized
On August 12, 2004, l'abbé Texier, until his
retirement a catholic priest in Bordeaux for over 20 years, baptized Alex and
Charles in the Church of Sainte Anne de Tréal.
L'abbé Texier retired to the land of his childhood,
nearby, and Grand-père retired to the land of his
grandparents where he vacationed as a child. They did not know
each other when they were young, but in their retirement have become firm
friends. Both are devout, and Grand-père
plays the organ every Sunday in the church.
Below is Grand-père
on the day of the baptism.
The boys took it all very seriously, as you can see in this first photo, and
so did l'abbé Texier. Below on the right, here he is with a candle
hovering over his right shoulder and the Lord hovering over his left shoulder.
We saw neither until we viewed the photo, but it fits together very well.
Friends of the family in Brittany were kind enough to become the boys'
Godparents.
Here is each, with their mother, in the neighborhood café
where we went to break bread
right after the service. First, on the left, is Yoann, the Godfather,
with the crutch he earned playing soccer the weekend before.
On the right below is Roxane, the Godmother, with her English-born beau
Simon. Roxane looked after Daphné
and Alban during their early summer vacations. And
now she's taking care of the little guys too.
Then on the left is Emilienne, Yoann and Roxane's mother, and
Grand-père's next-door
neighbor at La Grée.
The final one of the cafe series is Charlie getting
back to real life that day in the same café, with Indiana
Jones and a pinball machine.
Finally, a portrait of the two Godparents and their charges.
We have a lot of special days in
our family, not all of them milestones in our collective
history like this one. Some, like Christmas or
Halloween, bring smiles to childrens' faces but mean
little more. Of course, that's enough in our house. But even if the boys did
quickly return into their earthly world, their earnest expressions and l'Abbé
Texier made this special day something more.
Real life is not
something that l'abbé Texier runs away from. He has a framed motto on the
wall in the hallway of his home near La Grée:
"If you want to be happy for one day, get drunk. If you want to be happy for one
week, get married. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, become a
priest".
