six ○ text

[mylegacy]

Who: Caesar Zeppeli & open
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: None
When: 2/27

Where I come from - or in my family, anyway, and families like mine. You give your child a special name at their baptism, the name of a saint that's meant to protect and guide them in life. It's just sort of a thing that's done, I never questioned it when I was young other than to wonder why my father chose what he did for me.

Mine is Anthonio, after Anthony of Padua. You're supposed to pray for him to find lost things, any kind of lost things, even ones that aren't tangible - lost faith, for example. It's funny but I don't think I ever actually have. Prayed to him. I always wanted to find all the things I lost by myself, which doesn't actually work that well all of the time.

The patron saint of today is Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows. He died on February 27. That's the thing, saint name days are named after the day a saint died on. So Gabriel died on the same day as me. I've been wondering if that's important - if I should recognize it in some kind of permanent way. Or if I should just try not to think about it, except that doesn't work very well either.

The other thing is that I remember having very strong opinions about some of the saints when I was younger. Catherine of Siena defied her parents and cut off all of her hair so she wouldn't be encouraged to marry. I used to think she should have done what they asked of her. Now I think if I ever had a daughter, I'd want Catherine to watch over her.

Comments

text;

[theshabbiestofmen]

Why did you think that about Catherine?

[Just curious! But as for death . . .]

I'm not religious, so perhaps this doesn't much matter, but . . . having known many people who died, I don't think there's much significance. I've never found death to be anything but ordinary-- in that oftentimes, it's senseless and cruel, and there's no great symbolic meaning to it. People don't die on certain days because of anything, but most often because they simply encounter people who are in some way twisted.

Does that make sense? I realize our situations are probably vastly different, and I'm not trying to argue with you, or cheapen your religious beliefs-- simply apply them to my own experiences.

[mylegacy]

Because I thought she should have put her family's wishes ahead of her own. That's how I was taught. So it was strange to me that her behavior should be idolized when it wouldn't have been allowed in my own family.

You don't have to be so defensive. I don't feel like arguing today, so even if I were offended, you're safe. I think I just want something to do today that's not thinking about how awful it was.

[theshabbiestofmen]

I have a friend who does nothing but argue when he wants to be distracted. Quite irritating, really.

[But all right, he can take a hint. Focusing on Catherine it is.]

That is strange. Though frankly, such traditions are rather foreign to me. I don't know that there was ever much familial pressure in my family.

[mylegacy]

It's standard where I come from. Or in my experience, anyway. I don't know what a family structure would look like without it, really.

[theshabbiestofmen]

Far more relaxed, I think. And far less stressed.

[He hesitates, but-- oh, well, Sirius isn't here, so:]

My friend's family was like that. Very focused on their legacy, on how they were perceived, on their status, all that. One son defected from the family; the other threw himself into it to make up for the elder's disownment. I never knew which had it worse.

[mylegacy]

Oh?

[Just that, for a little while. Then:]

The one left behind, I would imagine.

[theshabbiestofmen]

Perhaps. I'd sympathize more if it wasn't such an insufferable little bastard, frankly. And if his family didn't stand for prejudice and murder, but that's' beside the point.

[mylegacy]

I think that's quite relevant, actually. Still, though, that's a burden to carry.

[theshabbiestofmen]

What do you mean, relevant?

[mylegacy]

I mean that family pride only goes so far. I was less proud of my family when I thought it was full of cowards.