The Traveling Christening Gown

I was born in March of 1949.  WWII had ended and former soldiers were home and starting families.  Shortly after my birth, my baptism or Christening as some call it, was scheduled.  Unbeknownst to me, my great grandmother had sewn a gown with fabric allegedly from a silk parachute used in the war, and lace from her own pantaloons.  The gown was an “ecru” colored, rather simple gown first worn by me in the spring of 1949.

My Baptism was attended by several generations of family. Above is a photo of my mom and dad holding me.  Below is a photo of my mother, both of her grandmothers and her mother (holding me).

The dress was especially cared for and in 1954, when my brother, Steven, came along, he too wore the gown.  At this point, the dress was packed away to await a new generation.  And yes, years went by until my first child, Marcus Alexander was born in 1976.   Alex wore the gown at his baptism in St.  Philip’s Cathedral in Atlanta, Georgia.  A few months later, my brother’s daughter, Emily was born.  She also wore the gown at her ceremony at The Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City, Long Island. 

 Her brother, Andrew, was the next newborn to wear the gown some seven years later.  The gown was not utilized by my second child, Wes, as he was not baptized for another four years and was obviously, at that point, unable to fit into it.  Again, the gown went into storage but was brought out in 2002 to be worn by Taylor Ann, one of Emily and Jonathan’s twins at their double Christening in Atlanta, Ga.  The gown had now been in storage for nearly twenty five years. 

 Neither of my children have had their own but Emily’s children are grown and there may be a need in the near future.  Somewhere along the way, I decided that we needed to record the names and the dates of those who wore this very special dress.  I set out to embroider the names and the dates of each baby on a strip of fabric.  Although I did complete it, I could not decide on how to connect or attach it to the gown whose silk fabric was by now over 75 years old.  The embroidered strip sat in the box for several years until my niece, determined to make sure it survived me, traveled to my home to motivate and encourage me to “do something”.   Together, we sewed the strip onto some satin blanket binding and then hand basted it to the hem of the underskirt of the dress.  Because she has the sweetest heart, Emily insisted on cutting a tiny lace flower from my wedding veil and sewing it onto the dress itself.  It forms the center of a rather long thin satin ribbon.  In the final picture, you can see the naming strip attached to the underskirt so that it is nearly hidden by the lace overlay.

  Emily is now in charge of the Christening gown, having taken it from my home in South Carolina to hers in New Orleans.  Who knows when the gown will be used next?   In anticipation of what

 I hope will be the inevitable, I left room on the ribbon for the addition of more names and dates.

                                                                    

                                             CHILDREN THAT HAVE WORN THE GOWN

                                                                       

                                                                  Pamela Sue Protz  1949

                                                                  Steven Paul Protz  1953

                                    

                                                            Marcus Alexander Whitaker  1976

                                                                  Emily Foster Protz  1977

                                                                Andrew Steven Protz  1984

                                                                 Taylor Ann Sontag  2002

                                                                         

 

Resurrection Sunday

Years ago, Easter Sunday was a happy day full of smiles, laughter, egg hunts, baskets and gatherings of relatives.  We usually had some new clothing, mama had a hat, and we'd take photos on the front lawn before church.   

Many years passed, my brother and I grew up, moved away and had children of our own.  Easter remained special however, and generally one of us would travel to spend the holiday with mom and dad who eventually had moved to Sarasota, Florida.  I always looked forward to spending time with them in Florida.  We'd go to the beach or lounge around their pool and at some point, mom and I would go shopping.  A visit to Siesta Key was usually on tap with a stop at the Lily Pulitzer shop.  I looked forward to "a new frock" every year.  In those days, "Lilly's" were very unique...lots of color and lace.  I could wear my skirts short then and those dresses always made me feel very special.

We lost daddy in 1996 and mama moved to Wilson where Allen and I were living.  She bought a cute, new "villa" home nearby and lived there happily for about five years before quickly succumbing to Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia which took her life in less than a week.  It was a quick death and not much pain involved.  She reported feeling as if she had the flu, weakened rapidly, became jaundiced, was hospitalized and died.  The date was March 23 but it wasn't just any other day....it was Easter Sunday.

Since that day, I grieve her passing for more than a day - more like a season.  The 23rd comes and goes but either shorty before or shortly after, here hops Easter.  It's like losing her twice in one month.  I think of her often for days before the 23rd, then the 23rd comes and I think of her and then I keep thinking about her until Easter Sunday (whenever that happens to be).  It's like a never ending sadness.  Mama loved life and she loved those who shared her life.

I will probably always continue to associate losing my mom with Easter.  Gratefully though, I also have a belief in God and in His son, Jesus Christ.  It's somewhat of a comfort to think that as Jesus rose again and joined his father in heaven, my mom's spirit soared up to meet them both.  

"I go to prepare a place for you" said Christ.  I trust that my mom is helping Him to prepare a place for me too.