Love Poem: A Nun I Once Knew
Curtis Johnson Avatar
Written by: Curtis Johnson

A Nun I Once Knew

I am not a catholic but have been fortunate to know a few,                                                                                     three to whom I became very close whose memory I cherish.                                                                               One was a large farmer; the second was a priest; the third                                                                                     was a nun named Dorothea.  She taught at the school in                                                                                       which we enrolled our first child.  Dorothea, whose name                                                                                   means, A gift of God, had a friend whose name evades me                                                                             after nearly 50 years.                                                                                                                                              

They worked as a team and it seemed if you saw one without the                                                                      other, something was missing.  I met Dorothea in the mid-seventies                                                                in the Southern Region of our country when the icy waters of Jim                                                                                         Crow and Segregation were barely beginning to thaw after at least a                                                                                 hundred years. Dorothea was 'key' in helping me to navigate those waters.                                                                                                                          

Dorothea was most cordial and very loving. We didn't know the rules                                                                of Catholicism, but my wife and I were invited by Dorothea and friends                                                             to participate in a mass whose ritual meant very little to us, but Dorothea                                                    and her fellow Catholics meant the world to us, creating a lasting bond, a memory, and a milestone never to be forgotten.                                                                                                                          

After moving many miles away, we lost touch with Dorothea. Over the years,                                                 I have received many gifts from God in human form. Jesus once spoke of                                                 'pearls of great price' and 'treasures hidden in a field'. Dorothea, most assuredly a gift from God, is one of those high-priced pearls and treasures found hidden in a field.

051720PSCtest, Nun, sponsored by Julia Ward