Joyful Accompaniment—A Reflection

By Sister Ann Marie Cook, SNDdeN

“How did you spend your day?” may not be intended as a trick question, but the answer can get complicated. Sometimes the day may include agreeing with a perplexed, elderly Sister that the new sweater her mother just gave her is a beautiful color. Or the

Left to right: Sisters Margaret Middleton, Anne Marie Cook and Jane McAndrews, SNDdeN

conversation may include the Red Sox’s hard-to-fill first-base position. Or why graphic novels deserve to be a separate literary genre.

All these conversations take place at Notre Dame Health Center (NDHC) in Worcester, Massachusetts. Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur make up about a quarter of the facility’s 110 residents. Some Sisters are there for rehab only; others are there permanently. As I move from one wing to another, I have the opportunity and privilege to spend time with many Sisters.

Little from my past ministries prepared me for this experience. In the first half of my Notre Dame “missions,”  I was a high school English teacher and administrator.  Then, with a monumental leap, I became an adult basic education teacher in the state prison system for a little more than two decades.

My quilting patterns and fabric finally got the attention they deserved when I retired in 2011. That focus lasted for several months, until I was asked to replace a Sister Advocate at NDHC on short-term medical leave. The Advocates offer a constant, loving presence to each Sister. An Advocate might accompany her to emergency room visits, select a graduation present with her for a relative’s big day and ensure her iPad is ready for a Zoom meeting.

While the Advocates have official work, they’re willing to include my light-hearted approach to visiting. So, a couple of days a week, I have lunch with the Advocates, then start my wanderings. Down one side of a corridor, up the other.

As an SNDdeN, I’m uniquely able to tell a Sister how political changes have affected her friend working at the border. Maybe the Sister resident wants information about another Sister’s sudden ER trip from our Ohio facility.  Or the Sister may want to share the joy and pictures from a family visit. However the day turns out, I count myself fortunate to be joyfully sharing it with other Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.