This was taken in late spring of 1954, I would turn 10 in August. I would be finished fourth grade in the dark room. The celebration is my brother, Greg's confirmation. I don't know where his picture is this is the only one I found in Mother's book. The picture is poor regardless of how much it is toyed with. I will say I probably have a smirk on my face; I usually did/do. The dress was yellow organdy. Wait a minute. When I was scrap booking this about my brother, I wrote about this. Let me see if I can find it.
GREG’S CONFIRMATION
MAY OF 1954
As members of the Lutheran Church, parents were expected to have their children baptized and confirmed. Part of any northern Minnesota obituary includes he was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a member of the ….church. Never mind the wrath of God, just watch out for your neighbors!
MAY OF 1954
As members of the Lutheran Church, parents were expected to have their children baptized and confirmed. Part of any northern Minnesota obituary includes he was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a member of the ….church. Never mind the wrath of God, just watch out for your neighbors!
And so it came to pass in those days that Greg shall take two years of confirmation classes on Saturday morning and learn Luther’s Catechism.
Greg may or may not have gone to all the Saturday morning sessions with other kids his age, the important thing is, he was confirmed and he was in the group photo with Harold, “Pete the Mini” in the center. He may or may not have gone to church every Sunday during this time and taken notes.
It was the morning each confirm ant was to be taken into the fold as members of the church and receive their first communion. Dressed in robes, they would all line up at the altar and kneel. This for ever after would give them the privilege of an obit with he was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith and was a member of the Zion Lutheran Church.
It was one of those days when the church which sat 750, sat 850. It was also one of those Sundays that the entire congregation would offer their tithes on the altar. That meant that each person would walk around the altar, make deposit, and then walk around the back of the church to their seat. In other words, one made a full circle.
The minister stood near the altar in prayer, the organist played as Mrs. Peterson sang. There were two piles of offerings. One on the altar and another one set up on table just for days like this. All the kids wondered if the big pile was for the minister and the other for Mrs. Peterson.
The more money put on the singer’s pile the louder she sang. Was there a rivalry for supremacy?
The floor was tile. I had on new white shoes with hard leather soles. I found out on the march around the church that I could heel-to-toe and my shoes made a wonderful clicking noise. That is, until mother caught up with me midway and pinched me on the shoulder which meant, you guessed it, STOP IT!!
Greg said he practiced a universal religion when he was in the jungles of Viet Nam. That is good enough for me. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith ………
Notice I did an entire essay without sharing my school grades of fourth grade!
Generations complete: EERJ!
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