My darling daughter, Nina, is an 18 year old graduating senior at a local Catholic high school. I mention her age in order to point out that she is, by all rights, a fully functioning adult under the law of the land. As her older brother says, however, she lives in her own land (which I like to call LaLaLand) where, apparently, the words "fully functioning" and "adult" are never spoken in the same sentence. She is a wonderful young woman, full of spunk and humor. What she is sometimes not full of, however, are the magnificent brains that God gave her! As a matter of fact, what occured today leads me to believe that she suffers from some sort of weird brain spasm that only occurs when you mention one word - "Confession"! So here's the latest Nina story, but please sit down when you read this because I am afraid of what will happen to you if you don't!
Nina was born into the Catholic church, received the Sacraments of Baptism and First Communion and for whatever reason, that's where her sacramental journey ended. I freely admit that it is probably because I am lacking in the Catholic mother gene; but in actuality, it probably had something to do with the fact that Nina is very stubborn and absolutely refused to do anything else that involved preparatory classes or lovely dresses. So we quit just prior to the next step - the Sacrament of Reconciliation (or Confession as it is referred to on the Catholic street). That was eight years ago when she was 10. She is now 18 and, because I am getting older and thinking about "cramming for the final exam", I thought that it was time to evoke Catholic mother's guilt and get her back on the road to sacramental health.
A couple of month's ago I contacted her religion teacher, a lovely priest with whom she is much taken. I explained to him the situation and he agreed to prepare her to receive her first Confession. I had finally convinced Nina that this was something that she should really do, and we were on our way. Until the first time Father wanted to meet with her to discuss "it". She didn't post that time, or the next time, or the next time. Of course, she had appropriate excuses each time but I, the ever suffering mother, knew better.
Which brings us to today; the day that Nina and her fellow students were to prepare for Easter by participating in a Lenten Reconciliation. It was also the day that Nina was finally going to be one step closer to Heaven. To say that I was happy would be an understatement; I was thrilled. She had met with Father for a few minutes on Monday, after school, and he had declared her ready. All Aboard the sacramental train! Until, of course, the train derailed in a pool of...blood?
Picture this, a girl in a Catholic school uniform, wandering the hallways in a trancelike state caused solely by fear...the fear of confessing her horrible, horrible sins! That, in and of itself wouldn't be so unusual, but the fact that rather than going to Confession she managed to enter a Bloodmobile outside of school and spend the entire period designated for Confession with an IV in her arm is beyond belief. And, no it wasn't an enormous hankering for juice and cookies. It could only have been one thing; she was so very afraid of Confession that her brain spasmed, sending her into a trance. The biggest question, however, is what the heck the Bloodmobile was doing at just the time that Nina decided to wig out?
So here I am, sitting at home, believing that my only daughter had finally encountered a spritual awakening. That was until I got a text message from her, informing me that she had decided to skip Confession and donate blood. Donate blood, I asked? Where the heck did you donate blood? In the chapel? No, she answered, outside in the Bloodmobile! That is the moment when my head fell into my hands and I began rocking and keening, rocking and keening. How is this possible, I asked, you were supposed to make a confession. We had this all worked out, I said. I don't know, she answered, it was just there so I went in!
So here we are, a few hours later. Nina continues to be one step further from heaven, not to mention one pint short of blood. I am still rocking and keening, rocking and keening, not to mention wondering why the hell the Bloodmobile was outside of the school in the first place.
Peace Out!
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