Celebrating the end of the season

By Sister Alodia Carney, OLVM

Texas Farm Workers come to Northern Indiana at the end of summer each year when tomatoes are ripe. They are not field workers. They are cannery workers, a very seasonal occupation.

I gathered with them at 5 p.m. on their final day of their work for the season, which was also pay day. It was their Despedida, Farewell. Spirits were high. The women had prepared a wonderful Mexican dinner. Men and youth set up chairs and tables on the parking lot. Young children were playing games, and thanks fo a creative Catechist, were coloring pictures of our Lady of Guadalupe on a table top until darkness took over. Music, of course, played on.

Sister Margarita Moreno and I were excited to be with them. We could tell them that we knew well their points of origin in southernmost Texas. Harlingen, McAllen, Rio Grande City, Edinburg, Pharr is a litany of former Victory Noll Mission Centers. The next morning they would start the long drive to South Texas, carrying with them warm wishes of Victory Noll Sisters.