My friend, Camille's, daughter had her Confirmation on Monday night. I don't know if you can tell, but if you look closely at her left hand, she has her fingers crossed - she is either making a wish, or telling a lie, rofl.
I was so honoured and happy to be her sponsor. It was such a magical night - Emma was so sweet, and so adorable, and so affectionate all night long. Every time she looked at me, my heart melted.
As I said to Camille, it was as if the Bishop were tying our heart strings together as he Confirmed her. I felt so bonded to her, and tied to her soul in an incredible way. Every few minutes, she would just gently pat my hand, or kiss me so softly. We were both just adoring one another.
I know we all go through times early on when we feel like everyone is looking at our children because they have Down syndrome. We worry that people are staring at us or making judgments about us.
That feeling eventually goes away, and I can't even remember the last time I worried, or even thought about anyone noticing Paige had T21.
But Monday night, well....I really felt like all eyes were on us. There were probably 50 children with parents and sponsors at the Cathedral, and I felt like every single parent and sponsor was looking at Emma and me - with envy and jealousy that *I* got the privilege of standing beside her, putting my hand on her shoulder, and praying for her. I felt like every set of eyes in the room was looking at us, wishing they could be us, as we snuggled and hugged through the service.
My heart nearly burst when Emma was standing on the kneeler in front of me, and reached around and took my hand to put it on the pew in front of her, so I was protecting her on both sides, and then, as if it weren't just right, she took both my hands and wrapped them around her waist. I could have fainted from pure joy at that moment.
As I whispered to her over and over again at the end of the ceremony "Thank God for you, Em, thank God for you."
