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As
one of the sisters walked across the alley between the
convent and the school, a gust of wind caught her veil and
blew it off. My friends
and I were horrified because up to that time we had only
seen her face and hands.
She quickly replaced her veil and said to me,
"Don't be embarrassed; someday you might be a
sister." Inside
I said, "No! For
sure, no!"
Early
in high school I remember
commenting to my
companions in the school lunch line that I knew that
the Church needed priests and sisters to carry out her
work. I'd be anything; except a sister and a teacher. Little
did I know then that eventually I would do both of those
things in my lifetime.
Being a sister began to be a career option for me at the end
of my junior year in high school when several women in the
class ahead of me chose to enter the Presentation community
in Aberdeen, SD.
For a year, I toyed with the
idea of joining a religious community.
I didn't want to join the Ursulines, my first teachers,
because they were too strict.
The Dominicans who were teaching me in high school
came from the west coast where it "always" rains.
I couldn't stand that! Finally, I decided to come to the
Benedictines in Bismarck sort of on the recommendation of my
cousin and her husband who raved about "the beautiful
Priory on the hill." They had also given the sisters the first 25 acres of
land on this site. Being a sister seemed to be what I should do with my life, yet I
minded leaving Montana, my home, and my family.
As
these 35 plus years have gone by, there have been points
when I know in a new, deeper way that being a sister is my
calling.
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