So, like everything else that is happening during this time of COVID, Wallace’s 1st Communion was affected. He’d been going through his prep with the church for the past 2 years and was in the final 2 months when the shutdown occurred. The first option that the church gave us was back when the shutdown was super severe, and only 10 people were allowed to gather at a time. So, it would have just been myself, Josh, and Wallace up at the church, one other child with their parents, the priest, the deacon, the cantor, and the youth minister. That sounded super depressing to me, so we chose to postpone and see what would happen. I’m glad we did. Although the mass was still very different, Wallace loved it, and we were even able to have a small handful of guests!
Having a boy go through this process is a little different than a girl. There was no debate over a veil vs a headband this time. Last spring I started asking Wallace what he thought about suits, and to my surprise, he had an opinion! He wanted a black suit, he wanted an under shirt, and he wanted a tie. At first he was saying specifically a “bow tie” which made me very nervous, but when I showed him photos, he just wanted a regular tie. He thought since it tied at the top you called it a bow tie. I think he knows the difference now.
Not knowing exactly when he was going to have his 1st Communion, I was a little nervous to purchase a suit. He grew quite a bit a this summer! But the church made it very clear to us in July that August 15 was the last possible day, and that it was definitely happening, so I went ahead and bit the bullet. And as luck would have it, the suit I’d put on his wish list was on super sale on Amazon when I went to order it! Seriously… it was like 75% off but only in his particular size! I felt like I won the lottery!
Josh had bought his shoes and shirt a couple of sizes too big months ago, so they pretty much fit perfectly now, and all that was left to get was the tie. I figured he’d want something colorful for his tie, so I called the Men’s Warehouse to see if they had any children’s ties and happened to catch the most helpful manager ever who assured me they had about 10 to choose from. I stopped by and facetimed with Wallace so he could pick one out. I honestly figured this would be such a simple process. I had all of the somewhat colorful, but tasteful ties laid out on a bench, and for children’s ties they make them so simple, they have this zipper feature to tighten and loosen them. Wallace saw the zipper, and was convinced it would be uncomfortable around his neck. In an effort to assure him he wouldn’t feel it I walked around the store looking for a mannequin to show him the tie would be tucked up under his collar. Well, he saw the plain black tie on the mannequin and decided that was the one the he wanted…no other color would do. So, guess what color they don’t sell children’s ties in (the day before 1st Communion). Manny (the manager) noticed I was in distress and having a heated discussion with my son via facetime, walked over to see if he could help, found the skinniest smallest plain black men’s tie they sold, and proceeded to tie it to the perfect length for Wallace so that it matched up with the children’s length! Y’all…that’s some service!
So….the tie ended up costing just as much as the suit… BUT, Wallace was thrilled with it, and he looked so dapper.
