The Monday Morning Epistle

I didn't think that Alex would have the nerve to go through with it, but as always, I should be chastised for my lack of faith in my sons. When Alex read about my planned Lenten Sacrifice in last week's MME—and heard about St. Baldrick's at school—he promptly signed up as well. He met up with Mary & I at the Colorado College campus a few blocks from his high school, and brought a classmate along for moral support. After the obligatory check-in paperwork and pre-shave photos, Alex and friend Patrick waited excitedly in line, alternately making fun of those already shorn, or nervously looking around the room. (I don't know if they were hoping to see friends, or checking for possible escape routes.) But with six volunteer barbers, the line moved pretty quickly and within a few minutes the point of no return was reached as all three of us were ushered up on stage together.

As I settled into the barber's chair, the young hair stylist asked me if I had ever shaved my head before; when I truthfully answered ‘No’ she said “Well, then, I'll leave you a little fuzz.” As my locks fell into my lap and onto the floor around me, she went on to explain that the scalp is much more sensitive than most people realize, and even the fine layer of 5 o'clock shadow she left me will help protect my head from sunburn and irritated skin. As it happens, she may have saved me from pneumonia as well, as the first snowflakes appeared Friday afternoon and it has been snowing off and on all weekend. For someone not in the habit of using his scalp as a temperature-sensing device…it was cold outside!

Once our ‘after’ photos were taken—and after hastily imbibing my free beer (darn those pesky open container laws!)—we headed for Garion's daycare center. He did a classic double-take upon seeing the two of us, and when I laughingly explained that I was now the ‘Easter Fuzzy’ and Alex was the ‘Easter Fuzzy Jr.’, Monkey-Boy took this to heart. He spent all weekend either rubbing the stubble on the top of my head, or introducing me to random strangers as “This is my Dad…he's the Easter Fuzzy.”

We celebrated Easter at St. Patrick's over the weekend, and after numerous Holy Weeks in the rather Spartan chapel on Patch, the brightly-colored garlands and effusive bouquets of flowers decorating the altar at St. Pat's were a joy. Attending Mass with that many other people was a bit of a novelty as well: when Mary served as Sacristan Thursday night, she was told to count out over 1,600 hosts…only to worry that there weren't enough Ciborium to serve them from! Even so, as Communion concluded on Easter morning , both Mary & I were filled with joy (and just a bit teary-eyed) when the choir sang “He's Alive!” It brought back a lot of happy memories of Easters past, and I would like to wish all of you many blessings of Easters to come…

KidBit: When Garion came home from his daycare center Saturday morning with a basket of candy after a special ‘invitation-only’ Easter Egg hunt, Alex asked where his chocolate Easter bunny was. When I told him rather bluntly that he and Jacob were “…too old for an Easter basket”, Alex proceeded to loudly protest this decision throughout the weekend. The more childish his whining became, the harder it was for us to keep a straight face, as the Gruesome Twosome's goodies were already carefully hidden in our bedroom! (When presented with his Easter bunny mid-afternoon on Sunday, Alex had the good grace to sheepishly apologize to his mother.)

PotW: Alex halfway on his journey to becoming 'Easter Fuzzy Jr.'. I'm not sure if he realizes it or not, but he actually looks quite a bit older with a shaved head…

Until next week…Tschüß!

,,,^..^,,,

2007.04.08-15:05