Carrie Link

Apparently too long has gone by without a post on Rojo, so this one is for you, Lion King, as well as the rest of you that have come to love the boy as much as I do (and at times, more).



Bought myself a little back-to-school present in August, one of those huge wall calendars with enough room to put every little thing on it. I tear off a couple months' worth out at a time, load it up and put it on the frig., at which time I tell Rojo, "DO NOT WRITE ON THIS!"

And every single month he writes all over it.

Large.

Scrawling.

Messy.

And each month it bugs me to no end because I like things neat and tidy.

Took a look at it the other day and he'd scribbled out something on there, and until I put on my "readers" and squinted, I couldn't tell what was still barely showing, underneath all the pencil scratches.

Ash Wednesday.

I walked into the living room, where he basically does live, and said, "So, I see someone scratched out Ash Wednesday on the calendar - anything you want to tell me?"

Looking sheepishly over the top of his glasses he just said, "Yea."

"You don't like Ash Wednesday, do you?" I persisted.

"No," he simply stated.

"Because of the whole no alleluia thing?" I badgered.

I don't know if it's a universal Catholic thing, but at least at Rojo's church/school the "rule" is, "No alleluias during Lent." Lent, which commences on Ash Wednesday, is a time of solemnity.

And solemnity is all well and good - really, I have big plans, actually, scratch that, I have big intentions for having very few plans, during the Lenten season.

I'm all for shutting down the noise and getting reflective. But not giving praise?

"Yes! Because of that! I like to say alleluia! I like to say it every day! I do not like a rule that says you cannot say allelulia! That is a very bad rule. I hate that rule."

I gotta agree.

Alleluia.

Alleluia.

Alleluia.