Six or seven years ago, the Sisters of Mercy asked me to lead the singing for their May Crowning Service on the First of May. One of my favorite sisters there was Sister Mary, and she was a favorite of mine and my friend Sister Anne. Mary had one of the worst cases of dementia I'd ever seen, but she could sing - and she sang constantly.

We prayed the Lord's prayer together, and then were going to have a few moments of silent meditation. And Sister Mary piped up:

I'm a rambler, I'm a gambler,
I'm far from my home,
If people don't like me,
They can leave me alone.
I'll eat when I'm hungry,
I'll drink when I'm dry,
And if whisky don't kill me,
I'll live till I die."

We kept quiet, but most of us had to try hard to keep from cracking up - we didn't want to hurt Mary's feelings. God bless Sister Mary and Sister Anne. I loved those Irish-born nuns. We had so much fun. May they rest in peace....and may Sister Anne be only mildly reprimanded for cheating when she played Scrabble with me.