Memoir | The Nun | Part I of VI

I was a John Hayden Johnson Middle School student in Washington, D.C.

During one of my classes, I felt an intense pain around my belly button, which gradually shifted to the lower right side of my abdomen. The pain was so severe that I couldn’t stand up straight.

The school nurse advised me to go home and rest.

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Later, I developed a fever and started shivering. My mother prepared my favorite meal for dinner, but I couldn’t eat. I had lost my appetite. Seeing this, my mother decided to take me to her workplace the next morning for a medical check-up. She was employed at Med Star Georgetown University Hospital, a Catholic and Jesuit institution.

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At the hospital, Dr. Dillon diagnosed me with acute appendicitis. As my appendix had ruptured, I was immediately admitted to the hospital for emergency surgery. An appendectomy was performed that very afternoon.

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This surgery holds a special place in my memory, perhaps because it was my very first.

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After the surgery, I woke up to find a nun in her habit standing by my bedside, smiling at me.

She held my hand and asked how I was feeling.

In my post-operative haze, I asked her, “Could you get me a chocolate candy bar?”

The nun responded, “Yes, my child. I will get it for you.”

Unaware, I drifted back to sleep.

When I woke up again, the nun was nowhere to be seen.

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It’s amazing that I still remember what I asked the nun for in my post-surgery confusion.

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Meeting a nun was a distinctive experience, especially since my upbringing was largely centered around Christianity. Still, there was an undeniable aura of spirituality that radiated from her.

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I never did get that chocolate candy bar.

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(Copyright © 2025 by Mia Z. Edwards. All rights reserved.)