Tonight after dinner I was sitting on the couch with Sophia when the front door suddenly opened and a little girl wearing a pink nightgown and furry slippers walked into the living room. She was about eight or so and had the look of a person with Downs Syndrome. We greeted her and I stood up and took her hand to lead her outside. Dom said he thought he knew where she lived.
Fortunately we didn’t have to search. As I opened the front door we saw her dad and called to him. He’d thought she’d gone up the driveway and was behind the car, didn’t realize she’d come into the house. He apologized profusely and said it was the second time she’d wandered into someone’s house today.
So we chatted with him for a bit and let him know it really wasn’t a problem we weren’t at all upset. I could imagine how embarrassed and awkward he felt. We found out her name and where she lives so if we find her wandering again we can help her get back home. A plane flew over as we talked and he pointed it out to her delight, reminding me of Sophie’s joy at seeing a plane earlier today when she was in the swing. She gave us each a high five as we said goodbye. A sweet girl who’d never got upset about anything, just happily wandering about, exploring.
I guess that’s one way to meet your neighbors. I still have to work up my courage to knock next door and talk to them about the poison ivy growing in their yard that is coming through the fence into our yard. Not exactly the way I’d choose to have our first meeting. I keep hoping we’ll just see them outside. But I think I’m going to have to go knock.
This is a beautiful custom. I am sorry I found about it when my children were too old but I intend to introduce it for the grandchildren.
Looks like a cake that was worth all that trouble
Is the missing part Sophia’s slice? 
Look at those round, rosy cheeks!! She’s so cute…
I also think it’s an interesting idea to remember the Baptism day. In Italy it’s a common tradition to receive gifts on the feast day of the Saint you were named after, but I had never heard of a Baptism day celebration.
The missing part is actually everybody’s slices. I cut them really thin because none of us wanted much cake, ironically. Sophie didn’t have her own slice. She ate maybe one bite of mine (she did have frosting and cake bits earlier in the day when I was icing and assembling the cake.)
I think the baptism day thing might have been something I picked up from friends who are converts and therefore who remember their baptism. I like the saint’s day custom too; but having an unusual saints name makes it hard to figure out what day to celebrate. I never knew when St. Melanie’s feast day was. Actually I still am not sure.
And for Isabella do we go with Blessed Isabelle of France or St Elizabeth? I really like Blessed Isabelle but her information is a bit confusing. Some sources refer to her as a saint, others say she’s never been formally canonized. (Perhaps it’s a confusion with translation from the French? I’m not sure whether French makes the same distinction between Blessed and Saint that English does.) I’ve also found two different days for celebrating her feast. And there are two Saint Sophias as well. All in all I decided it was easier to just celebrate their baptism days and to find other ways to help them commemorate their patron saints.
Crazy… I have a Sophie and a Bella too!
My Sophie is named for Madeleine Sophie of Barat and my Isabella Clare is for Isabella of Portugal: http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-elizabeth-of-portugal/
Great taste in names.
Lerin,
How sweet. I popped over to your blog and saw pictures of your adorable little Madeleine Sophie. And I noticed you also have a Benedict. Our Benedict Joseph is due in July.
Oh and thanks for the Isabella of Portugal link. I don’t think I’ve seen her story before. Interesting that both she and Isabelle of France were princesses who were drawn to the poor Clares. Isabelle never formally took vows but founded a Franciscan abbey, for which she wrote a rule, and lived nearby.