Sharing the Decision

So, the decision was made. Now what? To be honest with you, I was scared to death to share the decision with anyone. Although I was no longer teaching in a Catholic school at this time, I had a huge Catholic family. My parents were devout Catholics. Dad went to mass every day, and he had been praying the rosary daily for nearly 50 years.

As it turns out, it took a while to get pregnant, so I had some extra time. Then, once I was pregnant, I wimped out! It took 8 months before I was brave enough to tell the soon-to-be grandparents that we would raise our children Jewish.

We went together from house to house, me with a lump in my throat. I remember sitting in my in-laws' kitchen, and, when we told them, they just about danced a jig. We told my parents while sitting at the kitchen table too. My Mom asked, “If it’s a boy, will you name him Isaac?”

Years later, my mother revealed that she and my father had assumed that, if we had a son someday, he would be raised Jewish - and a girl would be raised Catholic. I'm not sure where they got that idea...it certainly never crossed our minds.

Honestly that's all we remember. I just asked my husband if he remembers anything else from that night. It's interesting that neither of us have any strong memories of that momentous occasion. It just happened. I don't recall telling my brothers. Maybe I left it to my parents to tell them. Maybe they figured it out when they were invited to a baby naming, instead of a baptism.

What I do remember is this. From the moment they were born, our children were treated no differently than any other grandchild.

A month later...

My mother-in-law, who died 6 months after our daughter's birth, must have begun preparing for the naming as soon as we told her. As sick as she was, she and my husband's Godmother managed to make enough cookies to  cover our dining room table with cookies for the reception. My parents and brothers all attended the naming - on a work day. I remember sitting in my bedroom holding our 8 days old daughter, looking out on to the front sidewalk wondering if they'd all come. They did.