 | A WRITER'S WIT |
Sister, Sister
Gibson | Goldberg August 24, 2015, Alice McDermott, "These Short, Dark Days": When thirty-two-year-old Jim, a sacked Brooklyn Rapid Transit trainman of the early twentieth-century, sends his pregnant wife Annie out into the bitter cold of a February day, to run an errand, he gases himself in their small “railroad” apartment. ¶ Later, Sister St. Savior, sixty-four, with a full bladder, on her way back to her convent from a day of “collecting alms” in the vestibule of Woolworth’s, sees the commotion of what looks like an apartment fire. She fights her way through a crowd, and denizens of the building assume she’s been summoned after the explosion. When she is informed of the dead man’s intent, the man’s young widow now fears that he will be barred from being buried in the Catholic cemetery:
“Your man fell asleep,” Sister St. Savior whispered now. “The flame went out. It was a wet and unfortunate day.” She paused to make sure the girl had heard. “He belongs in Calvary,” she said. “You paid for the plot, didn’t you?” The girl nodded slowly. “Well, that’s where he’ll go.”
The nun, Sister St. Savior, employs a quirky but humane theology of her own, as she attempts to cover up or rewrite the young husband’s death. She is accustomed to rendering aid to the helpless, mostly women, and Jim’s poor widow is no exception. Sister, praying to God, does not take lightly her empathic impulse toward breaking the Church’s rules in order to comfort others:
She would get him buried in Calvary if only because the Church wanted him out, and she, who had spent her life in service to the Church, wanted him in. “Hold it against the good I’ve done,” she prayed. “We’ll sort it out when I see You.”
Indeed, Sister St. Savior realizes that, for her compassion, she will mostly likely exact a price—one way or another. The author’s novel, Someone, was published last October.
Photograph, Ralph Gibson
Illustration, Carin Goldberg
Photograph, Ralph Gibson
Illustration, Carin Goldberg
READ MY ‘BEHIND THE BOOK’ BLOG SERIES for My Long-Playing Records & Other Stories. In these posts I speak of the creative process I use to write each story. Buy a copy here!
Date of Original Post:
11/13/14 — Introduction to My Long-Playing Records
11/20/14 — "My Long-Playing Records" — The Story
11/27/14 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
12/04/14 — "Ghost Riders"
12/11/14 — "The Best Mud"
12/18/14 — "Handy to Some"
12/25/14 — "Blight"
01/01/15 — "A Gambler's Debt"
01/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
01/15/15 — "Men at Sea"
01/22/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
01/29/15 — "Engineer"
02/05/15 — "Snarked"
02/12/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
02/19/15 — "The Age I Am Now"
02/26/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Date of Original Post:
11/13/14 — Introduction to My Long-Playing Records
11/20/14 — "My Long-Playing Records" — The Story
11/27/14 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
12/04/14 — "Ghost Riders"
12/11/14 — "The Best Mud"
12/18/14 — "Handy to Some"
12/25/14 — "Blight"
01/01/15 — "A Gambler's Debt"
01/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
01/15/15 — "Men at Sea"
01/22/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
01/29/15 — "Engineer"
02/05/15 — "Snarked"
02/12/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
02/19/15 — "The Age I Am Now"
02/26/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Listen to My Long-Playing Records Podcasts:
03/12/15 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
03/26/15 — "The Best Mud"
04/02/15 — "Handy to Some"
04/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
04/16/15 — "Men at Sea"
04/23/15 — "My Long-Playing Records"
04/30/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
05/07/15 — "Snarked"
05/21/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
05/28/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Watch for more podcasts!
03/12/15 — "A Certain Kind of Mischief"
03/26/15 — "The Best Mud"
04/02/15 — "Handy to Some"
04/09/15 — "Tales of the Millerettes"
04/16/15 — "Men at Sea"
04/23/15 — "My Long-Playing Records"
04/30/15 — "Basketball Is Not a Drug"
05/07/15 — "Snarked"
05/21/15 — "Killing Lorenzo"
05/28/15 — "Bathed in Pink"
Watch for more podcasts!
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