Monday, May 23, 2016

What I Learned Today

Putting on a habit (or uniform right now for me) makes random people comfortable talking to you about anything.

Yesterday we went to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the altar of Mary Help of Christians.  Sitting with some of my companions waiting for Mass to start, an elderly gentleman came up and took the open seat next to me.  He turned to me and began talking about the Basilica.  I asked him if he had been at the dedication of the altar 50 years ago which launched him into telling me about himself.  He lives at the Veteran's home in DC and since he's 94 years old he figured he should go yesterday because he just never knew how much he longer he would be able to go out.  Then he showed me the speaker device he had for his hearing aid because he had lost most of his hearing in combat.  "Take care of your ears.  Stay away from all those loud noses and things or else you end up with bad hearing like me.  They didn't tell us that back then. And make sure you brush your teeth.  They didn't tell us to do that either and I didn't brush mine." At this point he popped his dentures out of place and showed them to me.  "See.  You got to take care because you only get one shot. God only gives you one body.  God bless you." And with that he turned back forward.

It was very sweet of him.  Although it really took a lot to control myself when he popped out his dentures to not get a little bit of the church giggles, but I kept myself composed.

This particular situation is really a mild case of what happens in habit/uniform and honestly it could have just been an older gentleman taking a chance to share some things he had learned in life with a young person.  Either way I take it as preparation for the conversations that could happen when I don the habit, God willing.

Monday, May 16, 2016

What I Learned Today

I'm not valid. Turns out my lovely home state doesn't issue IDs up to federal standards and you can't get on federal grounds at places like West Point.

Today as culmination of our Don Bosco class, Sr. D took us on a field trip to visit West Point and our Marian Shrine where there is a replica of Don Bosco's childhood home.  The first stop of the day was West Point.  On arriving at the security check, point my companion and I were informed we couldn't go in because our licenses' didn't meet federal requirements, and we didn't have any other form of identification on us.  Divine Intervention saved the day as we had just met an officer from West Point when we were getting breakfast and he had graciously arranged to meet us and give us a tour.  Thank goodness he was able to come and get us in so we could join the tour.

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Things I'm Not Ready for

Sunday morning we had our final CCD class.  It was my week to be with the 2nd graders as a teacher's aide.  When the teacher walked in I wished her a Happy Mother's Day, without skipping a beat she said Happy Mother's Day to me.  In the moment I said nothing, but at lunch later I was relating the story and how in my mind I was caught off guard by it. Sr. B then pointed out, "Um spiritual motherhood."  Oh yeah. Well, still not ready to be wished Happy Mother's Day by people.