Remembering Bianca's Rite of Passage

Last week, a reader asked if I had a Rite of Passage after reading about Ben’s recent Rite of Passage. The answer is yes, and I thought it would be fun to do a post about it!

I had my Rite of Passage several years ago around my birthday. My birthday was during the week and so for my birthday trip, we went to the movie theatre and saw the American Girl movie, “Kit.” I received a scrapbook similar to the one Ben received as well as many other nice gifts. Little did I realize that my birthday celebration was far from over! J

I was told that Daddy had planned to take me out to a special luncheon on Saturday afternoon. I then realized why my Abuela wanted to buy me a special dress, shoes, and jewelry as a birthday gift.

Daddy and I all dressed up and ready to go to our lunch. He even bought me a rose corsage!

He took me to one of the nicest restaurants in town! I was surprised when the host and our waiter wished me happy birthday when I walked into the restaurant. When we got to our table, I found it decorated with balloons and birthday confetti. It was so beautiful!

Our first course was a wonderful insalata Caprese, enjoyed with strawberry lemonade. Our second course was soup. Daddy had tomato bisque while I had French Onion. And finally our main course of steak with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. It was all so elegant and delicious!

After our meal, the waiter brought out a surprise birthday dessert for me: chocolate cake with a candle and a scoop of ice cream! Then Daddy pulled out a small box and presented me with my very own purity ring. It’s a beautiful sterling silver ring with a heart and a cross with a tiny ruby in it (my birthstone.) I have worn this ring every day since he gave it to me.

I was bubbling over with joy and happiness over our special time together, so I wasn’t suspecting anything else. Daddy casually mentioned as we got in the car that we needed to run by the church to pick up a movie our Pastor had left for us. Mom called and Dad exchanged a few words with her. When he hung up, he told me that there was a women’s meeting going on at church, so we might see some cars and people there. I was still oblivious to anything going on!

We reached the church and sure enough there were cars there. As we walked up to the doors, I saw a piece of paper that said “Rite of Passage” on it. I walked in the doors. . .

. . . and was shocked to find friends and family from all over the country standing there! I burst into tears and ran around greeting everyone.

Mommy explained what was going on, as we had never had a Rite of Passage ceremony in our family before. I was so excited!

We entered the sanctuary and the ceremony began. We opened with prayer and then all of my mentors and friends introduced themselves and explained their relationship to me.

Then we watched a beautiful power point slide show with pictures and captions of my life up until this point. Daddy read his letter to me before leaving. I found out later that he returned home to meet all of the men and boys and bring them back to church for the fellowship dinner following the ceremony.

I then shared my testimony with all of the ladies there. I had wondered why Mom wanted me to write it out!

Then my Abuela shared her letter, as did several other ladies in attendance.

The highlight of my ceremony was the Path of Blessings/Roses. Twelve of the ladies present formed a path, each of them holding a rose and a card with an exhortation on it.

I walked down the path, collecting the roses and cards. On each of the cards was a character quality that I was encouraged to pursue.

Hugging Mommy after receiving my roses.

My dear Great Aunts, Abuela, and Mommy.

My mentor circle after the ceremony. I am so blessed!

The beautiful cake we had after the ceremony.

After the ceremony, I came out to the fellowship hall and found all of the men and boys waiting there. We all enjoyed a delicious meal prepared by the ladies of the church. We had a baked potato bar with all of the fixings, punch, and of course, cake. I actually didn’t eat any of it because I was so full after my lunch! Later that evening, I had the pleasure of opening many gifts and reading through letters from those who could not be in attendance.

My Rite of Passage is a day that I will never forget! It was fun to see how Ben’s ceremony would be different because he is the first man in our family. I look forward to celebrating more Rite of Passages down the road with my younger siblings!