I have loved words for as long as I can remember. My baby book claims that my first three words were Mama, Dada, and pasteurize. My family had dairy cows, so I must have heard the third word often. Or did I think it was the name of one of my siblings?

We Sisters of Notre Dame give one another lots of cards. Some sisters gather for card-making parties, and some houses have drawers full of stamps, tagboard, and special scissors—all of which make the card-sending less expensive but certainly not less labor-intensive.  Besides holiday, birthday, and feastday cards we send the annual jubilee cards. Every sister celebrating 25, 40, 50, 60, 70, or 75 years receives one. These cards are treasured and kept long after the special day.

Some sisters randomly select a card, re-read its message, and pray for the sender throughout the day on which it was selected. Perhaps she even phones for a little chat. One particularly unusual card designed by Ministry of the Arts in LaGrange, Illinois, had this on the cover: “Blessed are women who join together with hearts and souls as one.” This randomly selected card and dozens of others unite us with their blessed messages. Card-making, sending, and lovingly re-reading are some of the most beloved “hallmarks” of our SND community.