Christmas Gifts

Christmas was quickly approaching and I wanted to buy some Christmas gifts for my four sisters.  But what does an 8 year old buy with only 30 cents… not much, even back then.  The other challenge was that the Maryville commissary stocked lots of candy but not much else and that was the only place I could do my shopping.

It was Saturday and I ventured out to the commissary.  I kept asking the nun, who was in charge of the commissary, how much this and that cost.  I ended up buying a spool of thread (I don’t remember the color), some 3 ring note book paper, a small statue of the Mary, the blessed mother and another item I cannot remember.  I paid for my gifts and ventured back to Isabelle hall.  I put the gifts in my locker and went out to play.

When I returned to my hall later that night, I went to my locker to look at my gifts but they were gone. Somebody had stolen them.  I was devastated.  I just didn’t know what to do.  Finally, I decided to go to my hall nun and tell her that one of the girls in my hall had stolen my Christmas gifts.  I wasn’t sure what she could do, and I surely did not hold out hope for her interest or dedication to my wellbeing, but I needed to tell someone, and in our world at Maryville, the nuns were all we had.

A couple of days later, Sister Madelyn, my hall nun called me over as if she wanted to speak with me privately.  She told me she knew who had stolen my gifts and that she had retrieved some of my gifts but the others were gone.  This particular nun had never shown emotion in the past but I’ll always remember what she said to me.  She said “You know why this is particularly cruel... because, you never bother anybody”.  I put the gifts back in my locker but it didn’t feel the same anymore, my Christmas spirit was gone.