Salvation or Fashion?

As I was sitting in church -the church of my youth -some memories came flooding back. (Forgive me, Lord, for letting my mind wander...)
I got back to doing what I was in church for but after Mass, I continued my reminiscing.

My thoughts centered around a childhood friend...well, really, she was my older sister's best friend.  They included me occasionally -usually when something needed to get done that would get those two in trouble.  Like calling boys to find out if those boys "liked" either of them.  Or if they needed a scapegoat for anything mischievous they'd get into.

To say this friend was ornery would be an understatement.  Nothing really hurtful, but as the youngest in her family, with older parents, "she" got away with a lot!

On one occasion, "she" (I really shouldn't use her name...) convinced my naive sister that a bonus item that came with a nail polish purchase at the neighborhood drugstore was "free"...WITHOUT the purchase.  When my sister proudly showed our horrified Mom her "free" bounty, Mom marched them back to the drugstore to apologize to the store owner.  (Can you say "shoplifting"?  Kids today would probably get a rap sheet out of that kind of move!). Breaking a street light?  Dad escorted them to the corner, with brooms in hand, to clean up the result of their rock-throwing.  (The rap sheet would grow.) 

The reason I thought of this friend in church the other night was that we are Catholic.  "She" was not.  But "she" was always up for going with us to the summer novena or benediction or Stations of the Cross at our church.  I think Mom thought of her inclusion in these services as some kind of salvation but I'm convinced that "she" went because "she" thought "she" looked good in a chapel veil or a mantilla.

My sister's best friend moved away when "she" was in the 6th grade.  It was a sad day at our house but we joke now that her moving probably kept my sister out of the Juvenile Detention Center!

My sister and her friend remained close -despite the distance - for years.  "She" passed away awhile ago, after suffering a debilitating illness for years.  "She" outgrew her orneriness but always had that twinkle in her eye that said "she" was up to something.

I like to think that those hours spent in church with us erased all the trouble "she" got herself (and my sister) into, those many years ago.  I hope that's the case.  And I'm thinking, the next time I'm in church, I'll probably think of her again.   And I'll tell her she really DID look pretty good in a chapel veil.