November begins with an end and ends with a beginning

By Leslie Bertucci
NOLA Catholic Parenting

For as long as I can remember, November has been my favorite month of the year. Not only does the air finally turn cool and crisp; not only do I celebrate my birthday, baptism anniversary and wedding anniversary; and not only does our huge family gather for a Thanksgiving feast.

November has a singular claim to fame: it is the only month that begins with an end and ends with a beginning.

On the first two days of November, we celebrate the feasts of All Saints and All Souls. What appears to the world to be the final end – death – is truly, to the eyes of faith, the beginning of a glorious eternal life in heaven.

I have so many joyful memories of telling my young children stories of the saints. One year, we cut all the pictures out of the paperback St. Joseph saint books and glued them onto poster board with the caption, “So great a cloud of witnesses.” That poster stood in our living room as a beautiful reminder of our heavenly friends for more than a decade before it fell apart.

Then there were the years I helped my little ones piece together makeshift saint outfits for the homeschool All Saints party. My favorite was when 5-year-old James strapped a piece of Styrofoam to his belly, covered himself with a sheet for a tunic, then drove sharp sticks into the Styrofoam and went as St. Sebastian, shot through with arrows. I believe he won the prize for best costume that year.

November usually ends with the beginning of my favorite liturgical season: Advent, a time of waiting, hoping, praying and preparing for the coming of the One who changes everything. You can feel the anticipation in the air: Something is coming! SomeONE is coming! We need to get ready!

Every year on the last weekend in November, I retrieve a ragged paper grocery bag from my closet and pull out the same old, battered Advent wreath we’ve been using since my 33-year-old was a toddler. The candlestick holders, once shiny bronze and crystal, were wedding gifts 35 years ago. They’re now so covered with purple and pink wax that it’s hard to tell what they’re made of. The fake dime store greenery is a bit dulled, but still green. I do buy fresh candles, resisting the urge to reuse last year’s stubs.

Only the youngest two of our five children still live at home. Even though they’re now young adults, we try to gather as many evenings as we can during Advent to perform our decades-old ceremony: Light the appropriate candles, sing “O Come, O Come Emmanuel​,” read the Scripture for the day, then name something for which we want prayers. We end with the song “​The Light of Christ.”

I miss the days when the kids would fight over who blows out the candles.

I suspect this November, like the eight months preceding it, will be like no other before. But we know God is good, and we can trust him with our whole lives, including this most wonderful of all seasons.

Leslie Bertucci is a native New Orleanian who graduated from Dominican High School and Loyola University New Orleans. She has been married to Johnny Bertucci since 1985. They have five children and four grandchildren. Leslie homeschooled their four oldest children; their youngest son attends Archbishop Hannan High School. Since 1982, Leslie has served in the roles of catechist, youth minister, conference speaker, choir director and worship leader. Her favorite pastimes are reading, writing, and making beautiful music for God. Leslie does her best to live by the motto: “Just show up, just say yes, God will take care of the rest.”