Tide of Grace

     I'm trying to make up for lost time here.  I was a little preoccupied in the last month or so because of a tradition--I think I can call it that at this point--of making baptismal gowns for new members of the family.  My inspiration for this was my mother-in-law, Dot Hansen Blaha. She made baptismal gowns for each of her kids, Jim, JoEllen, Gery and Cindy.  My kids were all baptized in their father's gown
     So, for most of my nieces and nephews on the Burns side, I have made a gown. We are now onto the next generation. I call them "the second cousins".
     The last two to be baptized were Evan Daniel Borton, my grand nephew and Stella Marie Blaha, my granddaughter.
      Evan Daniel was baptized at Holy Trinity Church in South St. Paul, Minnesota on April 18, 2010.
     Stella Marie Blaha (Estella Maria so the priest said) was baptized on May 8, 2010 at Our Lady of the Angels Church in San Diego, California.

     A tradition that Mom asked me to continue was to make sure each babe got a Magic Hankie for his/her baptism.
     This is the usual poem that accompanies:

THE MAGIC HANKY

I am just a little hankie, as square as can be;  
but with a stitch or two, they've made a bonnet out of me.  
I'll be worn home from the hospital, and on special days,  and then I'll be carefully pressed and neatly packed away.  
Then on the Wedding, I have been told,  every well dressed bride  must have something old.  
So what would be more fitting than to find Little Old Me,  
a few stitches snipped and a Wedding Handkerchief   I Will Be!  
And if per chance, it is a boy, someday he still will wed.  
So to his bride he can present   the "Magic Handkerchief" once worn upon his head.

There is another poem I found that I like better:
     An Heirloom
A tiny square of linen
And a dainty edge of lace
Designed into a bonnet, 
To frame your baby's face.


After baby's worn it
Fold and tuck away...
And it becomes a hanky 
For your daughter's Wedding Day.


Or if the baby is a boy, 
On the day he marries
This can be the "something old"
His joyful bride will carry. 


So the traditions continue...another second cousin is on the way later this year!!!!
 And here is an Irish proverb that says it all:

Every tide has an ebb save the tide of graces. 

Stella in her Magic Hankie Bonnet