I Remember When ... Page 10

Published 6/09/07, contributed by Linda DeCuir McFadden

I REMEMBER WHEN I wanted to be a teaching nun when I was growing up. Even though I didn't go to catholic school, I had nuns at St. Joseph's who taught me catechism. I was always awed by them. Well, my mother was not happy about the fact that I kept saying that I want to become a nun some day. She said that I talked too much and that I would probably stay in trouble if I ever joined the convent. She also said that I would want to jump ahead in line and go straight to being MOTHER SUPERIOR since I like to boss. I remember going all the way to Beaumont to see SOUND OF MUSIC with Bill Richey with my mom driving us when we were in the 9th grade. The movie was showing on the big screen and the Village Theatre couldn't show it. I bet I have watched that show well over 40 times or more over the years. Well, I didn't end up in the convent, but I did become an elementary school teacher. I had my mother make me a nun costume for Halloween years ago. Everyone borrowed it since it is almost a ONESIZE FITS ALL. I use it for fun, too. As a teacher, I wore it to school one day for our book parade when we were to dress as a character in our favorite book. I told my principal I was the nun in the book, "The Nun Story". I hid behind the door in a fellow teacher's classroom before school that day and surprised her when she walked through the door. She screamed and literally fell to her knees. She teared up as she stood back up. She said that she had a flash-back of her parochial school days with the nuns and it wasn't a happy memory. I guess I should have swatted her hand with a ruler to finish the memory properly! I brought my costume to a family reunion one time, went out and changed into it and surprised everyone. I wore it to pep-up a neighbor who was down in the dumps by showing up at her door. I even wore it to the LITTLE THEATRE production of NUNSENCE in Orange and sat in the audience. After the show, the director came out to talk to me thinking that I was a REAL NUN. She said that they had been "peeping" out behind the edge of the curtains all night seeing if I would laugh at the jokes. They had hoped they weren't hurting my feelings. I introduced myself to the director and had to remind her that I had taught her son in first grade fifteen years before. That costume has been fun to wear for years. Hey, maybe I'll wear it to a class reunion some day. At least it will be an outfit I can fit into without a girdle! By the way, our '68 class does have a real nun. Sister Kathleen Gaspard is a teacher at Kelly Catholic high School in Beaumont. The nuns there do not wear the long habits anymore. Most of the orders of nuns have done away with the traditional habit since they were impractical.PS, I have a "nun" collection that includes over 50 items. It includes figurines, dolls, a stuffed rabbit dressed in a habit, and even a nun clock! I have received them as gifts and I have even bought items on e-bay! Give me a shout if you have anything to add to my collection.