The Proudest Nina In The Whole Wide World
Being a Nina (godmother) is an interesting thing. It’s become an unexpected but fantastically fulfilling part of my life.
I’m up to five godkids now…and sometimes that makes me want to pour a cool beverage, sit a spell, and think.
Mostly about the sanity of these friends who have invited me to have something of an impact on the lives of their children.
I mean really? Me?
But they said, “yeah, you” and so I stepped up. I take godparenting very seriously. This isn’t just some “in name only” kind of deal.
These five kids are my kids. I laugh with them and cry with them and by god my heart breaks for them.
Whew. It’s a lot.
On Sunday, The Good Man and I found ourselves in our Sunday go-to-meetin’ clothes inside the insanely gorgeous Grace Cathedral at the tippy top of Nob Hill in San Francisco.
It was baptism day for the two girls that belong to one of The Good Man’s oldest and dearest friends and his lovely wife.
We’re the head godfolks over their oldest child who is nearly three and is beautiful and smarter than a whip. We’re the backup godfolks for the younger girl who is creeping up on six months and is adorable as the day is long.
I always did enjoy a good baby dunking. This church is just so beyond spectacular that it made the day that much more special.
I’m not going to lie, I misted up a little bit when they splashed that holy water up on the noggins of my pretty girls. I don’t know, it just got to my little Nina soul to see them up there being brave and taking on this sacred ceremony in their lives.
It’s a good thing I had the hand of The Good Man to hang onto for strength.
Later that evening, I got a call from my oldest godchild, the twelve year old daughter of my best friend back in New Mexico. I’d sent both her and her sister a little box of fun stuff from my recent international travels, and she wanted to talk about it.
She had just gotten home from a 4H shooting competition up Raton where she had taken eleventh place and her little sister (the ten year old) had done good too. The younger girl had done a respectable sixth place shooting a .25 rifle with scope. It was her first time in competition and she wiped up the floor with the other sixty kids in the race.
My girls!
And then came the part where I had to lay down because I was weak in the knees with pride.
My goddaughter told me how when they were up in Raton, she learned a new song on her violin.
Now, let me back up here and fill in some story so we’re on the same page. There is a gentleman named Mr. Joe Delk who is a New Mexico legend. He leads the Delk band with his three sons and is one hell of a musician.
He plays a fiddle like it oughta be played. He learned it from his daddy.
Mr. Delk and his band played many of the dances I went to back at NMSU. I’ve met Mr. Delk several times and found him to be a kind man with a quick wit.
Before my godkids went up to Raton, they heard that Mr. Delk was going to be there too since his grandson was in the shooting competition. My baby girl’s dad told her this fact and said she might take her violin along and see if she could talk to Mr. Delk about playing.
So, she did. She took her instrument and she got up all her courage and walked over to a living legend of New Mexico (by herself, her mom wasn’t there at the time) and asked Mr. Delk about playing the violin.
Mr. Delk told my girl to go get her instrument and then he taught her how to play “Faded Love“.
Oh lordy, I’m tearing up again.
I’m the proudest Nina in the whole wide world. My girl! Such a brave one. I’m in awe of her!
I talked about her and her sister taking their seat at the table with a long line of proud agricultural New Mexicans when they raised and sold their pigs at last year’s fair.
And now, my oldest girl steps into some really hallowed territory. She can play a song that is a bedrock of both our American and our Southern New Mexico culture all thanks to a man who is himself part of that bedrock.
Whew. I didn’t know it was possible to feel this proud.
What an awesome day to be a Nina.
And god kid #5? Well, I finally got a boy in my clan. What in the heck am I going to do about a boy? He’s just a few weeks old, so I have time to sort it out. He’s already one of the calmest babies I’ve ever known in my life. I know both he and his big brother are destined to be amazing men.
Just. Whew.
I need to go dab my eyes a little and hug the infinitely huggable Good Man and thank whichever entity seems to fit into my dogma and catma today for the chance to be a part of it all.
I gotta heart full of proud.
Heart Full of Stars
Image found on Silverbeam’s Deviant Art page and used under Fair Use.
