Reader, Son Thankful For Nun’S Exceptional Gentleness, Caring

Sun., Aug. 14, 1994

Rebecca Nappi Staff Writer

We came back from vacation to a heartwarming letter from Edith Bradley of Spokane. She answered one of our Slice-like questions in which we wondered if anyone had some “good” nun stories to share. Bradley wrote: “In 1954 my premature son was born at St. Joseph Hospital in Chewelah. He was born with an underdeveloped digestive system and so weak he would lose weight just from the work of sucking on the bottle. Sister Mary Agnes (who in later years was at Holy Family in the administration) took my tiny son as `her baby.’ “She was able to feed him intravenously. He couldn’t even be held because that also caused him to lose weight. She reached into his incubator and caressed him with gentle loving hands so he had human contact. (At that time, parents weren’t allowed in the nursery.)

“I took him home after two and a half months weighing 5 pounds. Now he is 6 foot 4, 220 pounds, 40 years old. If it hadn’t been for that nun, I would not have had my son. I’ve never forgotten her.”

Put it on your calendar now: New York Times columnist Anna Quindlen will be the keynote speaker at the next Women Helping Women luncheon to be held May 2, 1995 at the Ag Trade Center. The group raised more than $132,000 this past May. The money was divided among 10 community groups that help women and children. For information, call 747-0802.

Grief talk: Melody Beattie got famous with her book “Codependent No More.” She has a new book out titled “The Lessons of Love: Rediscovering Our Passion For Life When It All Seems Too Hard To Take.” The book is about coping with the death of her 12-year-old son. Beattie will be at Auntie’s Bookstore Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

More Auntie’s news: On the first Tuesday of each month women meet at Auntie’s to read from their own writing and the writing of other women. The forum is open and free.

Terrible pay, high turnover: In 1988, The Child Care Employee Project surveyed 227 child-care centers and surveyed them again in 1992. They found that 85 percent of the centers were still open, yet only 60 percent of the same directors were employed. Real wages for teaching assistants got worse over the years. They make, on average, only $5.08 per hour. Seventy-three percent of the centers did not provide paid health insurance for their staff.

TV blues: The Clearinghouse on Women’s Issues Newsletter recently reported that 58 percent of women surveyed were more frequently offended by television programming than they were a year ago, yet few complained to sponsors, boycotted advertisers or contacted the network or local station carrying the offensive programming.

Write The Women’s Room, The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615.

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