On May 19, 2024, at the early 8:30am hour, Lillian received her First Holy Communion at Santiago de Compostela Catholic Church. She studied in her catechism classes for two years (in person, unlike Vivian!) prior to receiving this special sacrament.
My Mom was in town for the occasion, which was sweet because Lillian wore the same (now “vintage”) dress that my Mom wore for her First Communion in 1965, I wore for my First Communion in 1989, and Vivian wore for her First Communion in 2022.
Like we did before Vivian’s First Communion, we all took professional photos in front of a Mediterranean drop sheet.
We also took pictures inside and outside church. The dress that Irene wore is the same dress that I wore in 1983 when I was about to turn 3 and was a flower girl in a neighbor’s wedding (they’ve long since divorced). My Grandma made the dress.
Lillian’s shoes barely made it through mass. They were her only dress shoes in California, though, because all of her other shoes had been packed up for our move to Colorado.
During the mass, Lillian read one of the petitions during the Prayers of the Faithful. Then, finally, it was the moment she’d been waiting for.
At the end of mass, Fr. Thomas was sharing the parish announcements and he mentioned an upcoming spaghetti dinner by the Knights of Columbus. Lillian gasped so loudly and so excitedly that, in front of 400-500 people, he noticed and said, “Someone’s excited about that!” Ha – our girl does love spaghetti!
At the end of the day, to celebrate Lil, we all ate a very yummy and fun dinner at Benihana in Newport Beach.
Congratulations, Lil! We are so proud of you and happy for you!
The Chambers Family - A.D. 