Sister Simon’s Saints

Illustrated by Dilleen Marsh

WELCOME! I’m Sister Simon.
Hi! I’m Ramón.
Hello. I’m Cathlyn.
I’m Mei Lin.
Hi! I’m David.
And I’m Joshua.

Cathlyn, we’ve waited till we were in this beautiful place to tell you some wonderful news.
You’re going to be a big sister in December. I’m going to have a baby girl.

Oh.

Are those sad tears, Champ? What’s wrong?
I guess you’ll enjoy having a perfect little daughter who isn’t defective.

Defective? Oh, darling, you’re the least defective person I know. You’re as strong as Esther and as kind as Ruth. The baby will be so blessed to … have you as a sister!
Maybe she’ll be ashamed of a sister in a wheelchair.

Or maybe she’ll be proud of a sister who’s the best basketball player on the block.
I guess I could teach her to hit the outside shot.
Or to hit a fastball—or cook an omelet. But mostly I hope you can teach her to be as good a person as you are.