The Misadventures of Being Me

Coming to you live from the University of Notre Dame, where I am attending Stewards of the Faith, a young adult ministry symposium. There are about 250 people here from across the US and Canada, mostly campus ministers and Vocation directors. I'd only met a handful of these people prior to today.

At dinner, some women invited me to join them at their table -- a Maryknoll sister, two School Sisters of Notre Dame, and another, whose order I never did hear -- all Vocation Directors. (NO. None of them asked me if I ever considered becoming a sister. Women know to look for rings.) A few minutes into the conversation, one of the sisters told me I looked familiar, but she couldn't figure out where she would've met me.

"Actually, I get that a lot," I explain. "I think I must just have a familiar face."

"Nooo..." she responds. "I'm sure I've met you before."

We exchange the names of various conferences, workshops, parishes -- any place we might've both been. Unable to make the connection, the conversation moves to other topics.

Several minutes later, she exclaims, "I know! You were at NCYC!"

I had, indeed, been at NCYC, and I won a prize from the School Sisters of Notre Dame booth. From there, we realized that she lives with another SSND whom I know. But how on earth could she remember me out of 22,000 people?

"You were the one with the neck brace."

Awesome.