March 19, 2014

Grandparent's Day 2014

Today was our third annual Grandparent's Day.  We usually celebrate this on Ascension Thursday (40 days after Easter) but it falls very late this year (May 29) which is also the date of our Senior Farewell Mass.  We like to have Grandparent's Day coincide with Mass so today being the Solemnity of St. Joseph seemed like a perfect day.

We had over 100 grandparents join us for the day with began with Mass at 9:15am.  The grandparents sat with their grandchildren for Mass which was celebrated by our chaplain, Fr. Richard Dion.  Fr. Richard's homily focused on the role of neighborhoods and the crucial role they play in our lives.  In former days, he said, families would live in the same neighborhood but that's not always the case anymore.  Thus, the idea of a neighborhood - a community - has changed over time and whatever it might be, a school, church, etc, neighborhoods/communities helps build us up and help us live our lives of faith.  He then spoke for a bit about Cardinal Lacroix '75 and his upcoming visit to Manchester this weekend.

Following his custom to see who was the oldest grandparent present, at the end of Mass Fr. Richard had all the grandparents stand up and when he called their age they could sit down.  The numbers were whittled down to two grandmothers, one of whom was 93 (I didn't catch the other age).  He invited the 93 year old, the grandmother of Christine Masci '14 to carry the processional cross and to lead everyone out.  It was quite nice.

After Mass the grandparents were taken around the school for visits while me and an amazing group of moms changed the gym over for lunch.  The folks rejoined us around 11am for a lunch of sandwiches, chips, and cake.  People mingled for about another hour and it was all wrapped up by about 12pm.

This is always a fun day and a great opportunity to showcase our school but most importantly for grandchildren to have the time to spend time with their grandparents.  Mark your calendars for next year's event - May 14, 2015!

No comments:

Post a Comment