Marcus's Baptism: November 23rd, 2008
Massapequa Reformed Church, Massapequa, NY
My cousin Steve is the Reformed Church of America minister who married Robert and me in College Point, Queens, in 1998; we really wanted him to be the one to baptize Marcus, and since neither Aunt Mary nor Rie can travel very easily, it seemed most logical to have Marcus baptized in Steve's own church in Massapequa. The day really ended up being a family affair: my father was the Elder delegate from the congregation, introducing Robert and me officially, and at Steve's request, I ended up telling a story about Marcus and me as part of the junior sermon. After church, we all went out to lunch at the Pastrami King with my parents' friends Charlotte and Bob and Carol and Don--it was a lovely, lovely day, with a beautiful, perfectly contented baby throughout.
Above you see Marcus relaxing at home before the big event, and then in my wrap in the pew before the church service actually started.
Below you see us posing with Aunt Mary before church; Marcus is here wearing his "pilgrim" hat, which my mother made out of a hankie.
Above are pictures from the baptism itself.
Below is a shot of Steve (the ham!) holding Marcus up above the church's harvest table (it was, after all, the Sunday before Thanksgiving) for a photo op.
Above you see Marcus asleep and "praying" (or so everybody commented) in my wrap as we left church, the cake we brought to the church coffee hour (along with Greek sweets, Greek cookies, and Italian cookies), and my mother holding Marcus at the tail end of our pastrami lunch.
Finally, below you find two short videos from the day, one of Steve's actual baptism of Marcus, and the other of most of the junior sermon.