A woman who was my friend and classmate in elementary school entered the convent when she was 14. She was a fun-loving, pretty, brilliant girl who could light up a room. Although I had been quite fond of her, I figured I would never hear of her again. But then in the late sixties, she appeared in the news as a spokesperson for the "Women Against the War" movement. In the seventies, she was frequently in the news as a principal lobbyist for the RC church in Washington. During the debates over Roe Vs. Wade she was frequently quoted by the national media. She eventually came to be recognized as the most influential woman in the Roman Catholic church. Over the years, she would resurface now and then as a strong advocate for various human-rights causes. (I was going to say "liberal," because most of her causes were typically liberal, but she was a powerful anti-abortion voice as well. I've always found the liberal position on abortion to be a bit of a contradiction. But I digress.) Finally, i heard that she had come to the Detroit area to try to save her order from extinction. She did that quite handily, attracting some well-heeled single women with law degrees, MDs and the like, who could contribute to the support of the mother house while working for the church and recruiting young women from South America and Asia. All this time I had just observed from afar and had never tried to contact her. But then on a whim I called her one day and asked if she remembered me. She said she did. I asked if she would like to have dinner. She said she would. I met her outside the mother house in Monroe, Michigan and we went to a local restaurant. We talked for three or four hours about life, love, and the days we spent together as children. Because she was the mother superior of her order, she had a bungalow of her own across the street from the convent. I drove her home and went to shake her hand before leaving. She pushed my hand away and kissed me. As I was driving away I looked back and saw her waving from the window. I tried to call her again a few months later and then several times more over the years. She never returned my calls. I know with certainty that I will never see her again.
On Oct 18, 2004, at 7:20 PM, frank theriault wrote:
On Tue, 19 Oct 2004 00:11:10 +0100, Bob W <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Luxury! I went to a Christian Brothers school.
Still, at least none of the priests started with 'Bend over...'.
No, never had to deal with either Brothers or Nuns at any point during my education - thank god! <vbg>
Some of my friends did, though, and I've heard stories...
cheers, frank
-- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson
