Hanging out with your high school principal while you're a student is weird. Hanging out with her after you've graduated; even weirder. Except for me. Over the summer, during some renovations of my high school, all the sisters moved out and into various different convents in the area. My high school principal just happened to move into my favorite convent and the one I happen to be the most comfortable in. It's the house where I truly feel like family, in a real home. And when she moved in, even though I had already graduated a year, I wasn't sure how we were both going to adjust.
The thing is, Sister and I were close. She always called me, "Becca, my love," and had no problem giving me random responsibilities around the school. She was even on my Kairos. We were close, but never in the sense that she knew about my vocation. I mean, she knew, but we NEVER talked about it. I had her read my college essay that was all about my vocation, but nothing else was ever mentioned about it. But at the house she lives in now, the sisters are ALWAYS talking about how they can't wait til I live with them for real, or am their sister, fo sho. And so, I wondered and wondered how it would be.
Even though I had visited so many times since she moved in, we never all really hung out. Most of the time, I would be over for dinner and she wasn't home yet from school, or we would be watching a movie and we'd all pass out on the chairs that just suck you in. Tonight, however, we hung out and it was a glimpse of my future for show.
The sisters always joke that my family is so used to visiting the convent with me that it will be no transition when I actually join. Tonight, we called up the sisters to see who wanted to go Christmas light looking. One of the sisters automatically said YES! And so we went, picked her up and went on our way. When we got back to the convent, of course, we were invited in for hot cocoa and that's when the party started. My family is so comfortable with the sisters that it's scary sometimes. But my dad right away starts conversation with the sister closest to him, my littlest sister is running around playing tag or hide and seek and me? Well, I'm there in the kitchen pulling out all the ingredients for hot chocolate since I know that kitchen better than the sisters themselves. Finally, we were all seated around the kitchen table, the sisters, my dad, my little sister and me, drinking hot chocolate. We were laughing, sharing stories, singing, tossing napkins and marshmallows and so much more. I sat there, watching the moment before me thinking, that truly that's how I imagine my future except with one difference: I'll be in a habit, too. I imagined my family visiting with the sisters and all of us, just sitting around the table, like one big family. It felt like perfection.
At the end of the night, I hugged all the sisters good-bye, saving my principal for last. She gave me the best hug you could ever imagine, saying, "Good-night, Becca, my love. I love you, my sister." Yeah, now I know I'm part of the family.
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