My Teenaged Stint in the Convent
I was 14 years old. Not pregnant or a nun. Yet, still made to live with the Sisters of Saint Francis in Syracuse, N.Y.
For many of us, reflecting back on our middle school years doesn’t elicit the warmest of fuzzies. This is compounded when part of those years was spent living in a convent. I speak from experience. But, wait, I’m getting ahead of the story. As I’ve shared before, my dad was a career U.S. Army officer. One of his duty assignments was to attend graduate school full-time at Syracuse University in New York. During that period, we rented a house from a college professor who was on a one-year sabbatical. My sisters and I attended a local Catholic school -- Holy Cross. We arrived in sixth, seventh (me) and eighth grade. We didn’t live in Syracuse for long, but it was ample enough to: 1. Experience more snow in a single year than I have in a …
Beth Jarvis
9:51 am on Thursday, May 31, 2012
Thanks Mary Ann. The convent does still exist only now the order is known as the Sisters of Saint Francis of the Neumann Communities. I am still in touch with Sister Julienne (81 now), and Sister Laurita, who is 71 and still teaching, and one of my FB friends. As for Carson, bless his heart, he ended up having to move in with my grandparents in WI because the military wouldn't allow pets in the … more ›