Anna's Story
Part One
The woman
sat in the second to the last pew on St. Joseph’s side, the toe of her shoe
just outside the imaginary line that followed the rows of pews to the
altar. As though by doing so, she could
bolt out of church at a moment’s notice.
She was alone and felt very much so.
Quickly looking about, it seemed to her that every other person in
church was with someone, and like a lone diner in a fancy restaurant, she felt
self-conscious.
As the Mass
went along, she followed in the missal and softly said the prayers in response
to the priest. She did not sing but she
listened and let her heart rise and fall with the lilting melodies. At the sign of peace, a jovial-looking woman
sitting by her side thrust her large hand toward her in a gesture of welcome,
and they shook hands. A gentleman in
front of her turned around and offered her his hand as well. She watched as a cherubic blond-haired child
gave her mother a kiss and hugged her neck tight. During Communion, she rose only to let the
others in her pew get out.
Her presence
at Mass was not the norm; in fact, it was the first time in eight years that
she had attended. A few of the spoken
parts had changed but overall the experience was familiar and comforting. Perhaps, she hoped, it was time to heal, to
move forward. She pushed away the
negative thoughts that pummeled her, the ones that were making her second guess
the decision to attend, and she made a solemn vow to God – I’ll be back next
week. The last stanza of the closing
song still playing in her head, she walked slowly to her car and headed to her
apartment.
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