August 2: Nun to Nun

The only purpose for which power can rightfully be exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.--John Stuart Mill

On a not unrelated note, hooray, the Congress is out of town!!

Back when I was in high school, I took the world's hardest test (the SAT was nothing to it) to get into the Science Seminar. (The Russians have sent up a satellite! We have to get ahead! We need to have our children educated in science!!!) In Laramie, 300 kids applied, 30 made it, although, to hear Mr. Shapiro tell it, we only failed less spectacularly than the other 270. We met once a week for three hours in the evening, and we had lecturers from the University give us college-level information. I got bored with it the last year, when it all seemed to be Petroleum Geology (shouldda paid attention, Jan, and maybe we wouldn't be kowtowing to the Saudis!)

Anyway. This is where I met N. who became my best friend. She went to the other high school, but we hit it off instantly. After a couple of years we would do a tango to "Hernando's Hideaway" to leave everyone rolling in the aisles. We just really hit it off.

Came college. We were mostly in different classes, but we were both in the college choir. The group was doing a Requiem Mass our Sophomore year, and I said she should hear one done in church. She expressed interest, so I invited her to the regular Friday afternoon High Mass at the Newman Center, the following Friday, November 22. 1963. Yep.

I called her, after President Kennedy was killed, and repeated the invitation. She had worried about getting in the way of "your grief." Don't be silly, come along. I do believe that the sight of the chapel overflowing with people who just came, was one of the things which impressed her. Eventually she started classes with our pastor, and on September 29, 1964, Rich and I were her sponsors as she became a Catholic. She was shaking as she knelt, and we had our hands on her shoulders practically holding her up.

In an interesting muddle of "spiritual incest" some friends were her Confirmation sponsors in Cheyenne in spring of 1965, while I was the sponsor of their Baptism godchild. She is Roni's godmother, and Rich and I are her son's godparents. When Roni was born, she married. I earlier told about Tony. I liked him, but he went a little crazy about the racism worries. When Rich was in Vietnam, N., Tony, my Mom and I would play Mah-Jongg. It was a lot of fun.

Their son was born when Rich and I were in England. I'm not too sure when she got divorced. We stayed with her in the mobile home for my 20th high school reunion. I had noticed the air was frosty, and thought it was because we were too crowded. In fact, though, she was blaming us for what was going on in the church. She was going to the downtown parish, and the people were cool to the evil divorced woman. She believes, though, that she's a Catholic for life, so, you see, this was all my fault.

I brought her my Mom's Mah-Jongg set in 1991 when mother died. This time she wouldn't even let me near the trailer, so we had dinner at the Holiday Inn (where one of my classmates turned up, which was a nice surprise for us both.)

Tony died. The son grew up and went to college. And the people at Newman Center who knew N. reached out to her and said she should go there. Suddenly she had a support group again. As she reconnected, she also began to explore other possibilities, and decided to become a Sister of the Divine Savior. A couple of years ago she got back in touch with us, and explained her behavior, and asked for a recommendation to the convent. I was thrilled.

Tomorrow N. takes her first vows in Wisconsin. We were invited, but obviously couldn't go. We asked for a Mass to be said, and that was this morning at 8. Rich stiffed the dog, and we went to the chapel. I was thrilled that they mentioned N.'s name in the intentions. A nice Mass with our new Father Heartthrob. He's going to be all right!

Then we went over to Davis. Ron hasn't yet picked up the furniture, go figure. We worked for about three hours. I got started on the dishes, and finished the toys, and got a good deal done. At the end, though, my mind completely rebelled. I just COULDN'T stick one more sticker on one more item.

We stopped at the Burger King for lunch. It's all soda fountain decor with a jukebox, even. Really nifty.

Then tonight, the Music Circus play was Sound of Music. Fortunately, Rich noted that we have Rivercats tickets on the last Friday of the series, so we went to trade in tickets today. This is easier said than done. Tuesday and Sunday are also out. In any event, we got the last two tickets that are together for the rest of the week, so we didn't have to settle for singles. Anyway, The Sound of Music starts with nuns, of course, which seemed to put a proper finish on the day!