When Pigs Fly

A beautiful story - thank you for sharing your experience with an obviously wonderful woman. You were truly blessed to know her!!

she sounds absolutely delightful! she reminds me of sister mary matthew* from my childhood. sister matt, as we kids called her, was in her late twenties, a new nun, had extra pockets sewn into her habitsfor snacks, because she was always starving. her bright red curly hair absolutely refused to stay whereit belonged and usually peeked out. sister matt was such a contrast to the oldermore traditional nuns.she could make anything fun. she coached the 8th grade debate team. she loved anything with frogs onit. when she'd pull a hankie from her pocket, it would always had a frog or two on it. the sillier the frog, the better.one day, we came to our summer enrichment classes, and sister matt wasn't there. we were simply told she was ill. period. eventually, i learned she had died of ovarian cancer.i'll bet she was waiting for sister mary at the pearly gates. thank you for sharing.

Thank you for the comments. I truly do feel that I was blessed to have known her for the time that I had; it's amazing how much a residents life can impact our own lives. I love your story about Sr. Matthew. I laughed about the pockets sewn into her habit for extra snacks! She sounds like she would be a great friend of Sr. Mary's...they're probably giving God a few good laughs Nursing is a challenge; sometimes you have to reach for a tissue, whether to laugh or cry. I know that I am always learning from my residents not only how to become a better nurse, but to learn their life story.

Wonderful. I bet the pigs, frogs and ducks went right through the pearly gates with them. You have had a blessing touch your life. Pass it forward.

How lovely that she found such joy in living. We hide our true selves so often and bury our joy within so that others won't think us silly or childish. She did not succumb to that human weakness of worrying about such nonsense. A lesson for us all. Thank you Sister!