I found my way to the church where baby Levi was to be baptized. There were only two cars in the parking lot.
Was I in the wrong place?
My older brother, Eric, (Levi's grandfather) sent me a text asking where I was. I texted back that I was in the parking lot of the church.
Was I in the wrong place?
The passenger window on the car next to me rolled down. Eric and his wife, Sharon, smiled out at me. We all laughed.
Eric said, "I thought there'd be more cars here."
We walked inside and sat in the lobby which filled in a few minutes with Kat's side of the family. Tj (Eric's son) and Kat walked in with Levi sleeping in a baby carrier and curly-haired toddler Isaac waking, slowly.
I wondered if Kat's family was religious, my family isn't; Eric jokes that he can't have his photo take in a church, which makes everyone laugh. I lean towards metaphysical beliefs and the idea that God is inside all of us as energy.
TJ called his brother, Timmy, who is in the army in Hawaii to set up a video chat so he could watch the proceedings. Timmy will be a Godparent (Godfather?) and Kat's sister will be a Godparent (Godmother?")
The ceremony started.
There was a lot of talking parts where the congregation had to repeat what was said or add on to the words. We were given a script to read from. Someone at the church messed up and rather than having Levi's name on the script it said, Benjamin.
Nobody seemed to care. We were all there for the love of a baby.
Later when I got a chance to hold Levi, I asked him if he would remember this baptism when he got older. He started to cry. Clearly memory was a sore subject for him, so I handed him back to his father.
The minister apologized for how cold it was in the sanctuary, but promised that he made the baptism water warm.
Levi sat in his mother's arms, quietly watching the proceedings. When it came time for the water dunking/dropping part, he smiled big.
To Levi all water is a bath.