A nun in our midst

I have always been intrigued by nuns ever since I saw "The Flying Nun" on TV when I was a little girl. Here in Italy I have seen nuns mostly in churches and convents. The older nuns are usually Italian while the younger ones usually come from South America, India, and the Philippines.

Dave and I went to the supermarket before lunch to buy a few things today. I was getting tired of going to the market and felt like buying something different. We walked down each aisle and loaded up our plastic basket with lots of goodies.

As I was selecting some pasta among the many, many different types and brands, a nun was standing next to me. She was Italian and about 50 or so. I watched her as she was reading the labels of the pasta packages. Some people walked by and smiled at her while others just walked by and didn't see her.

I was tickled to be shopping with a nun by my side. It was like being a kid again and seeing your teacher outside of school. I wanted to learn more about her: what she was going to put in her shopping cart, what her wallet looked like, how much money she had in it, and who she was with.

She looked back at me and smiled. I smiled back and reached for a package of pasta on the shelf and walked away. I put my things in the basket that Dave was carrying and when I turned back, she was gone.

I was hoping to find out more about her, but I guess I would've been disappointed by the "normalcy" of her life. I'd like to believe that maybe she flew back to the convent with her groceries.

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