A nightly ritual

As much as we rush through life we try to build in as much routine as we can, particularly at bedtime.  It's hard though because sometimes a scheduled book or a song will be what tips the scales the following morning.  One thing that has become a nightly ritual for us is a small gesture suggested by Deacon Leon Noelker when he baptized Meredith in 2003.  Regrettably, I have few memories from any of the sacramental moments in mine or my children's lives.  But I do remember Deacon Leon asking that we parents make the sign of the cross on our child's head each night.  I don't think I started right away, but it has become a nightly ritual for me.  I take comfort in it.  The girls barely even notice and often ask me to do it as they missed it the first time.  Even if I don't have bedtime duty, I sneak in quietly before I retire to give this tiny blessing.  I have seen Bradly do it and now, most touchingly, Eleanor likes to do it back to me.  She did it last night on my lips and I found that to be such a tender moment.  Maybe a telling moment, too.  It makes me think she knows a lot for her four years and, perhaps, I needed that.  It was a small gesture that will have a lasting impact.