Unfiltered Story #288336

We were regular churchgoers. Usually, we sat in the side aisle and the collection round ended with those rows. One Sunday, when the men doing the collecting prepared to start their round and us children got our coin to deposit in the bag, my then two year old sister got up from her seat and before our parents could act, she slipped out of the row and followed the men doing their rounds. Nothing else, she was quiet and well behaved except for the fact she was not sitting in her seat.
Once they neared the row we were sitting in, she slipped by, seated herself and dropped her coin in the bag when presented to her.
Of course, the parishioners had their say after mass, giving scathing comments about my parents and us “unruly” children. There were five of us and there were, as there still are, people that are convinced that manners and politeness in a household degrade with each added child. The pastor who observed and heard everything, stayed quiet… until the next weeks sermon where he reminded his flock of Gods love for his children, especially the little ones.