Lent

Grandma's holy water font lives on

By Pam Fischer

	A Compass Lenten series

My Grandma was one of those people who truly left an imprint on my heart. As a young child I lived to spend time with her: making grasshopper pie, playing rummy or even just doing the dishes.

But before I could even help her do any of those things I needed to rush to the bedroom, dip my fingers into her holy water font, (it was plastic and had the Virgin Mary on it) and bless myself. This always made me feel so special.

And if the holy water was running low, she would send me on my bike to church to fetch some more. I recall thinking, "Boy, I must be really special if I could carry it home."

Several years passed and Grandma was moved into a nursing home. As our family helped her sort through the years of memories, I asked if I could have the holy water font. She said, "Yes." I was so honored to have such a special "treasure" of my Grandma's life. I am blessed to have that piece of my past.

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A few years passed and I got married and moved in to my first home. One of the first things I put up was Grandma's holy water font, right above my kitchen sink. I put it there so that I see it everyday, especially each time I do the dishes.

This sacred piece of my past reminds me of many things:

• First and foremost is my belief in God and in my family who embraced this faith with me.

• Second, my Grandma, who showed me that with God all things are possible.

• Finally, it reminds me that I was baptized into a faith that gives us such rich symbols. And yes, it triggers memories of my childhood with such a blessed person. As I wash the dishes each evening I am renewed in spirit, my soul refreshed.

A few years ago my goddaughter, Sydney Theresa, named after my Grandma, gave me a holy water font she had received in one of her religious education classes. I again was honored to receive this precious gift. Its place, as you might have guessed, is right next to my Grandma's font above my kitchen sink.

These fonts bring a sense of peace to my life. They are blessed and powerful reminders of my past and my future, and of a God who is deeply in love with us all.

(Fischer is the director of religious education at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, Newton.)