Oh! Mama, I should have listened to you!
Soon after we passed the little village of Wild Rice, ND, Father pointed out St. Benedict’s Catholic Boarding School and the adjacent church. I gasped as I saw the large gloomy, gray buildings surrounded by a high wire enclosure. My heart jumped to my throat at the thought of being fenced in this strange place. My disconcerted mind began to whirl with harsh images of doom and gloom.
Then I had a revelation. I knew better than that! Through many summers I had enjoyed my classes with the nuns who had come to our small village to share the Good News of Jesus’ unconditional love. These nuns were always kind and good. There was never anything sinister about them. They taught us to love one another. I knew I had nothing to fear.
Father ushered me up the front steps of this convent-school. There was not the usual doorbell to announce our arrival. Instead the priest reached up and tugged on a ragged rope that sent clanging vibration through the early afternoon air. A gracious older nun, who introduced herself as “Mother Marie,” greeted us as she opened the door to let us in. This gentle lady led us to a little parlor and asked us to sit down while she went to the kitchen to get us some refreshments. Things were looking up already.
The first thing I noticed was how clean and fresh smelling everything was. There was a lovely bouquet of flowers on a little table near the door. The furniture was old but it was beautiful and well polished. I did notice how quiet it was. I began to wonder if all the other students would also be arriving late for classes that were to have begun two days ago.
When Mother Marie returned with coffee for Father and a cold glass of milk for me, she told us that all the other students were in the chapel. Just then a lovely young nun knocked on the glass door of the parlor. Mother Marie beckoned her to come in and then introduced her as Sister Agnes. She told me that Sister Agnes was in charge of the dormitory. She kindly added that is where all the girls slept each night. Sister Agnes ask me to take my valise and she would show me where I would be hanging my hat for the next few months.
I looked back at Father and again I was so tempted to tell him I had changed my mind. He gave me an encouraging smile and told me to behave myself. This made me laugh rather nervously as I turned to follow Sister Agnes. This nun took me up several flights of stairs to the dormitory, pointing out several rooms along the way as classrooms for various grades.
Arriving at the dormitory, I was totally amazed to see about fifteen beds lined up with very little space between them. There was a small dresser beside each bed. Sister Agnes, the dorm mistress, helped me unpack my meager wardrobe. She saw that I was very nervous so she suggested that I wash up and then lie down for a little while until she returned to get me for supper. I asked her where I could wash. She pointed toward the end of the dorm and then she disappeared quietly down the steps.
Exploring timidly, I located a door at the end of the dorm where she had pointed. Further down a short hallway, I found a bathroom. I began to undress. Bathing in the abundant warm water that gushed from a large faucet into this huge, white, enamel tub was a heavenly experience for me. We didn't have this kind of luxury at home. We only had a metal tub that we had to set up in the kitchen close to the stove that was heating the water we used for our bath.
It was heaven until I heard a loud knock on the door. A boy's voice called out, demanding to know who was in the bathroom. I answered, giving my name. With a very deep voice, he said, “You are really in big trouble. Don’t you know you are trespassing in the boys' dormitory bathroom?”
I never got dressed so fast in all my life. I was trembling from head to foot. As I emerged from the bathroom, I saw a tall boy with a face badly marred with acne. He scanned my quaking body, up one side and down the other. I blushed at his bold behavior.
He scoffed, “My aunt is Mother Marie. You are really going to be punished very severely! My aunt knows all about girls like you! You will never last here. You will probably be sent home right away!”
I couldn’t say a word. I went back to the girl's dorm totally defeated and wishing that I had never heard of a Catholic school.
“Oh, Mama, I should have listened to you!”
When Sister Agnes came back, she found me sitting forlornly on the edge of my bed. I didn’t give her time to ask what had happened, I gushed out my story. She just roared with laughter and told me not to pay any attention to Joel Adams. She reassured me I had done nothing wrong. I was just as amazed at her reaction, as I had been in my encounter with this snotty Joel character. After calming me down, she conducted me to the dining room to have my first meal of what I fully expected would consist of prunes and liver.
Somehow I got through that first boardinghouse meal which was, contrary to my expectations, delicious. With all the introductions that were made at the dining room table, I was not able to notice very much. I was so shy and nervous. I did manage to glare at that Adams boy seated just across from me. He answered my glare with a playful wink that told me he was thoroughly amused at his attempt to initiate this new bashful kid into a world that was very familiar to him.
After supper, Sister Agnes took me to a classroom where I was shown the schedule for classes and my books and desk were assigned. The first book I noticed was a French grammar book. I asked Sister if I was going to be learning how to speak French. She assured me that French was a requirement for every student. She added that since I was a few days late in my enrollment, she would give me some help so I would not be too far behind the others. She spent the next hour just getting me to hear the difference between two important indefinite articles, le and la. She told me le was the masculine equivalent for the English word, the, and la was the feminine form for that same English word. This made no sense to my already confused mind. She assured me that it would all become clear as my studies progressed.
Next: Living in “Frenchie” land.