Kevin's Surgery/Leia's First Moral Quandary

Leia Rose's little friend Kevin had surgery early this morning. Poor little boy! Here is Kevin with his Daddy and his beloved "Gankie" in the pre-op room of the hospital. He has been having trouble with his eye, often seeing double, for a while now. With the Lord's help, this operation will be a complete success (and he won't need another).

Leia and I have been praying together for Kevin and his eye surgery for a while in many different ways, and last night we got a fun surprise. We decided to ask Saint Therese to intercede for us. And whenever you ask Saint Therese to intercede and your intercession is heard (and answered) by our Lord, she sends you a rose from heaven (as was her promise before her death). Not just any rose though, . . . there's a certain feeling that goes along with the rose she sends. Leia Rose knows the prayer to St. Therese, and after we said our intention and began praying the prayer we noticed something that we had never seen before: there were roses all over Leia Rose's rocking chair cushions!!! And there was that familiar St.-Therese-Rose feeling. : ) So I knew already that Kevin was going to be okay.

So this morning Leia came into my room after I had just finished saying a Rosary for Kevin (which turned out to be the exact time Kevin went into surgery, . . . what a blessing!), and Leia Rose noticed the beads on the pillow and asked why I had a Rosary up there. (We usually say our family decades downstairs.) This seemed to be the appropriate time to ask her a very important question. And I knew that this question was going to be her very first moral quandary. (She asked me what a moral quandary was, and I told her that it was a time when she would have to decide, "What's the right thing to do?") So I said, "Leia Rose, I know that Austin is supposed to have his birthday celebration of life today at school, but would you consider going to Mass with me today to offer it as a sacrifice and pray extra hard for Kevin? You can choose: go to school all day or leave early and come to Mass with me." Leia Rose thought for a minute and said, "I choose to go to school for Austin's party." : ( (Were you expecting a different response, maybe?) : ) I told her that I "was very disappointed," but that it truly was her choice. Quite honestly, I think it was just to much to expect from a five-year-old child. Of course, I was expecting the opposite response and, even though I told myself I wasn't going to do it, I started rubbing it in. So while I brushed her teeth and she said, "Why are you going to Mass, though?" I replied, "Because I care about Kevin." Leia said, "But I really care about Kevin, too!" And I said, "Well, not enough to go to Mass, I guess." (That one was a low blow, wasn't it.) Then Leia Rose cried and said, "But Mamma, you're making me feel sad!" Again, too much for a five-year-old child, huh?

[At the Mass, Annie was as good as gold and, as always, I was floored by how amazing Father John's homily was for the children. I was sad Leia wasn't there. Father John is always asking questions and involving the kids, inserting interesting stories. Today's reading was about Paul and his conversion. Anyway, I just sat there so happy both of my girls are going to go there through 8th grade! And although I offered up the whole Mass as a sacrifice for Kevin, about the only sacrifice I had to make was enduring Father John's aftershave (he wears WAY too much) when we said hello and wrote Kevin's name and situation in the Book of Intentions.]

Ironically, as soon as she got home from school, Leia Rose immediately said, "When I was eating Austin's cupcake today, I prayed for Kevin." Ha! And further, "You know, when I get older, I'm going to do things like that, Mamma." She didn't say it, but she meant "go to Mass as a sacrifice for someone." This time, instead she said, "Let's pray a special prayer now." And so we did. Now that, realistically, sounds like a five-year-old on her way to full Communion with the Church, doesn't it? There's still hope yet. : ) And tonight before bed, as we said our prayers and got to the, "And tonight we ask a special prayer . . ." part, I wondered whether Leia Rose would chime in with her always-heartfelt "that Oma and Papa sell their house." But, you know, she said, "that Kevin's eye gets better." : )

A failed moral quandary? Maybe. A learning experience for Leia Rose? Definitely. : )