Godmother duties

I was reminded last year that I am godmother to my first cousin’s son (I’m not sure if that makes him a first cousin once removed, or a second cousin – I could never get the hang of the complicated cousin relationships) which I admit to my shame I had forgotten.

My godson is now nearly 50 and I have been a very BAD godmother as I can’t even remember how to spell his name correctly! I had not met him since he was a very small child, until last year when I visited the offshore island where he lives, for the first time in over 40 years.

On considerable reflection, my understanding of my duties is that I should have been a ‘good role model’ to him as he was growing up, but as I was a teenager when he was born I very much doubt that the role model would have been particularly good! I was pleased to see that despite my lack of effort in guidance during his formative years, he has turned out to be a fine, upstanding young man.

I also believe that sometimes godmothers are supposed to perform babysitting duties and I did fail hopelessly in that task - it’s too late to make amends for that unfortunately.

All in all, I think his parents might have done better if they had done a Google search for a godmother, which would have revealed “Godmother at Amazon.co.uk”, possibly with free delivery!

Me, I prefer the definition I found, which is that a godmother is a cocktail made with Italian Amaretto liqueur and vodka! ;-)