I received my first holy communion as a Catholic when I was already 29 years old. I received 3 sacraments all in one day - baptism, holy communion and confirmation. It was a prerequisite for the next important sacrament that I was to receive - Matrimony.
Was it a memorable one? Well even if I was an adult, I don't think I have really accepted Jesus into my life then so it wasn't that memorable for me. I vividly remember getting free breakfast at McDonald's Tagaytay from my Tinong Jess right after the ceremony but that was all that was left of that day.
As much as I would want my little girl to chart her own experiences, for this particular one, I wished and prayed for it to be a lot more memorable for her than it was for me or her dad (who also barely remembered anything from his own FHC).
But how to make it memorable? Always, always a challenge.
Good thing, as I am not much of a planner, I had plenty of friends whose kids are also going to have their FHC. My good friend, Maqui, thought of getting letters from her son's godparents (with them sharing their FHC experiences). I love letters! I think what really spawned my love for writing was my love for letter writing. And Maia also love reading letters. So it was perfect!
Next challenge, how to convince godparents to write. With such short notice. By short notice I mean 2 days prior to the FHC event.
But guess what, everyone was just so nice. They immediately sent it letters. All of the godparents I asked sent it a letter for Maia. Here are samples:
From Ninang Ching:
From Ninong Nono:
From Ninang Kleng, Ninang Manet, Ninong Ronald and Ninong Ren:
Ain't she lucky to have these wonderful people as her godparents?
Congratulations again for this milestone, Maia! We're really proud of how far you've come and how you are growing to be such an amazing child of God.
Keep the faith. Keep the spirit. Let God be your guide always.
