Last week, seven sisters (including me) were involved in an event with sophomore women at the College of Saint Benedict. The women, Residence Assistants (RAs) from Lottie and Margretta halls of residence, invited me to ask a few sisters to come to tie blankets (that they are giving to Catholic Charities) and to tell stories. It was so much fun! As we entered the building (Margretta Lounge), the smell of cookies filled the air making us all excited about the possibilities of eating some. Yes, the RAs who were sponsoring this event had baked chocolate cookies and served them with milk!
They had laid out five different fleece blankets on the floor for us to tie. We all got started and young women started streaming in, both from Margretta and Lottie. They just kept coming and coming, with as many as six or seven helping with each blanket. That did not take long because of the many hands at work!
So, after that, we all had our pictures taken with the blanket we had helped finish. They were designs of fire trucks, characters from Frozen, and even items for a baby. Yes, the blankets were for children. Almost the entire group, which was at least 50 young women and the sisters, gathered in chairs to hear stories. Sister Jane told about her experience as an interpreter for the Olympics in 1972. Sister Josue told about some of her experiences of taking care of orphans in Taiwan. Sister Stephanie talked about giving blankets such as these away to people in her hospital work in Utah. Sister Lisa Rose talked, as did Sister Nina and Sister Lois Wedl. Then Nina started telling the women to take advantage of their college years, so I went off on that topic by encouraging them to go on a study abroad trip. I was the driver, so I called all the sisters to leave at 9:30 p.m., but it was an hour well-spent and lots of fun was experienced by all. Many of the sisters connected with individual students, such as Jane with the one who was from St. Martin, a town famous in Central Minnesota for generating religious vocation!
Mary Jane Berger, OSB
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