Two Feast Days, One Celebration: Several Weeks Late

 Rebekah and I have a lovely tradition every December.

We share a share a feast day that's celebrated on two different days: December 8 and December 9.

When I was growing up Roman Catholic, I made my First Communion on December 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. 

That year, our parish church (St. Bernard's in Joliet) had decided the children would make their First Communion based on readiness.

We were given little books to study. And then we had to pass a test. So my mother the Sisters associated with the school to dinner at our house around Thanksgiving.

And then my second grade teacher, Sister Bartholomew (later renamed to Sister Rhea) and I went down to our finished basement. She went through the little booklet and asked me questions. Then we went upstairs, and she told my parents I had passed.

I was the first to make my First Communion in my class. The following Sunday, another girl (Mary Fitzpatrick) made hers.

Rebekah's middle name is "Anne." In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Conception of St. Anne (the counterpart to the Immaculate Conception) is celebrated on December 9.

So for years, I would take Rebekah to Cracker Barrel for a special lunch and time to browse the retail story, which we especially enjoy during the pre-Christmas holidays. In fact, Christmas isn't Christmas to Rebekah without our annual December trip to Cracker Barrel.

When Rebekah was younger, it was easier to schedule that lunch date on December 8 or December 9, depending on my freelance deadlines.

But once Rebekah was in college, and I was the features editor at The Herald-News, hitting the 8th or the 9th became challenging due to our conflicting schedules. So we'd shoot for the nearest weekend that I wasn't on call.

This year, between the pandemic and the fact I was in training that week (and then using up the rest of my vacation time between Christmas and New Year), the feast day passed us with scarcely a notice from us.

Yesterday, we remedied that as we continued with our film festival.

And she even brought home some of the soft center candy canes she especially enjoys. 

A Lovely Tradition

I remember the first time I took my three youngest kids to Cracker Barrel in Joliet.

It was around Christmastime, and I'd made an impulsive decision to shorten the school day and treat them to lunch.

What they most enjoyed was browsing through the country store, which seemed magical to them in all its various vintage displays.

This might have been the end of our story if our family didn't have another tradition: the celebration of individual feast days.

Each of my children is named for someone in the Old Testament and someone in the New Testaments and the two names together have a particular meaning.

In the case of Rebekah and me, we share a commonish feast day, on back-to-back days.

Mine is the Immaculate Conception on Dec. 8. Hers is the Conception of St. Anne on Dec. 9.

The year after that first Cracker Barrel trip, I offered to take Rebekah there for a special lunch, just her and me, to celebrate our special days.

We've been doing it every year since then. And we pretty much order the same meal (minus the dessert, which is no longer on the menu).

Now that she's an adult and working full-time, we don't always make Dec. 8 or Dec. 9. But we do get there in December.

Some years she has treated; some years I have treated; and this year we split the costs.

And we always tour the store.

Don't be fooled by this photo. We have plenty of engagement on our special day out. She's actually looking up something to show me.