Blog

Part One:

In the late summer of 1975, Kathy told me she was pregnant and we would be having a child in April 1976. I was excited. I was scared! I don’t know how to be a father!! What would college cost in 18 years? Kathy was excited, but she seemed very calm. I could imagine her being a wonderful, loving, caring mother.

In those days the doctors didn’t tell you the sex, you didn’t have gender-reveal parties, you just knew there was a baby in there that would soon depend on you 100% for everything. Kathy’s younger sister, Jan, happened to be visiting us in Madison on April 23rd when we told her that we would be heading to the hospital. She could ride along and hang out in the waiting room. At 3:44 PM the doctor said “It’s a boy.” As we all know, men don’t cry, but I must have gotten something in my eyes because they started watering. We had discussed names, of course, so I looked down at Kathy and said, “I guess this is Eric Michael.” Jan, now Aunt Jan, was able to come in and see him when he was only ten minutes old.

Part Two:

In the 1970s, I played guitar and sang with a group for the Folk Mass at St. Paul’s Catholic Center on State Street in Madison. Although I had been baptized Catholic, I grew up on a farm quite far from any Catholic Church so my family attended the nearby Franksville Methodist Church. As part of a group that sang at the Catholic Center, I often referred to myself as the “Token Protestant.” Since I was unfamiliar with the Catholic mass, the priest, Father Jim Eagan, would cue me when to start some of the choral responses.

We were all, of course, overjoyed with Eric’s birth. At one evening concert at St. Paul’s, I sang Kenny Loggins’ “Danny’s Song” but announced that I was renaming it “Eric’s Song.” Everyone there knew why and applauded. When it was approaching the time for Eric’s baptism, some of my fellow singers thought it would be a good idea to incorporate Eric’s baptism into a special mass. Father Eagan readily agreed and came up with a service that really fit the occasion. Children handed out flowers to people as they entered the sanctuary. Seven beautiful candles graced the baptismal font.

Family members from Racine drove up to join us for the baptism. Eric had the honor of being the first grandchild for Kathy’s parents, Al and Elsie Leuker. Eric’s Godparents were Kathy’s brother and sister (and Eric’s Uncle and Aunt), Tom and Jan. They were all seated in the front row. Since I would be participating in the mass, I didn’t sit with them but was off to the side with the other members of the group.

As the mass started I played and sang along for the standard parts of the liturgy. Father Eagan then asked all of the children in the congregation to come up and sit around him. The subject of the homily was children and, as he spoke to them, they all smiled and waved flowers. For the baptism, Kathy held Eric over the baptismal font while Father Eagan offered a blessing and gently poured some Holy Water over Eric’s forehead. Afterwards I held Eric as Kathy and I walked around showing our precious child to the congregation.

I walked back to where the other singers were sitting and picked up my guitar. They remained seated and I started the part that I had practiced hundreds of times to make sure I could do it without getting too emotional. I spoke briefly to the congregation and sang a solo of “Baptism Prayer.”

I have no photo of me singing that song but the image above was taken that day and shows the group performing.

A recording of the entire mass was made on a cassette tape and given to me afterwards. I’ve had that tape for fifty years. This is what I found on it before I started writing this post yesterday, April 22, 2026. It warbles a little, but I think the feeling comes through.

Happy Birthday, Eric!