I don't think that life could have been any better, Mary was wonderful and we spend some great times together. There was an added bonus as well, the Kelly brothers weren't trying to knock my head off.
I was having a quiet pint in Mikes when old man Kelly came in and indicated that he wanted a word in private. Here we go again I thought. We walked outside and sat on the bench. I waited for the father to boyfriend talk and he looked really lost in himself.
"Ger, I want you to talk to Mary" says he
"About what?" I enquired
"She's talking of leaving" says he
Well we had of course had conversations about her dreams and aspirations but she hadn't mentioned that they were going to be reality. I felt really sad at that and I looked at old man Kelly and he was crestfallen.
"She's a headstrong girl, and if she sets out to do something she will do it" says I
"I know, I know, but we will be lost without her" says he
The easy life of someone cooking and cleaning you mean, I ungraciously thought. But then I looked at him and he had seemed to shrink into his clothes and I beat myself up for the bad thought. He was genuinely upset about his "wee girl's" decision.
I met her that night and we talked into the small hours of the morning and I was caught up in her enthusiasm and vocation for what she wanted. She had contacted an organisation that specialised in these affairs and was off to Dublin to have an interview. My heart was heavy, was I in love? I had never said as much but of course I was FFS. I entertained thoughts of going as well, but that was my heart talking, I knew I could never do anything like that. That made me feel like a real B@stard and as I drove home I was seething with myself.
It was of course selfishness on my part as I thought about her decision. The more I thought about the more I knew I wasn't going to try and persuade her not to follow her dream. It just a real bummer that I wasn't going to be part of it. She returned from Dublin with the news that she was leaving the following week.
On the day of departure there were tears in the eyes of the hardest men I have ever known as she left for the departure gate. She took me aside
"I have loved our time together, but I must do this" she said
"I know" says I
"I will write, but will you reply" says she
"Of course" says I
She left without a backward glance and the gate closed on a particularly good time of my life.
"Ger, let's get drunk" says old man Kelly
"I'm with you" says I
We went back and got blazing drunk and as the boys were in a bad mood it got a little lively as well. I was just glad I wasn't the object of their frustration.
She of course wrote, and I of course replied, but as with most things in life it runs its course and the correspondence got more infrequent and eventually stopped. She did take Holy Orders within 5 years of leaving and never returned, except for brief visits. She had followed her dream and had caught it, and the sight of Mary Kelly the nun never ceased to amaze me.
The last I heard, she was still helping the needy and giving her love unconditionally to all who required it. The Kelly boys? They found their own love and settled down. Although they did of course revert to type at old man Kelly's funeral when they wrecked the hotel bar at the breakfast when someone dared to talk out of turn.
An amazing woman never easily forgotten...