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by Eileen O'Toole (Author)
Spurred on by her Irish Catholic upbringing in 1950s, Eileen Tegins decided to enter the convent and
become a nun at the young age of seventeen. Almost immediately, she ran smack up against rules,
regulations, and arcane practices that ran counter to her free-spirited nature. Deciding this life was
not for her she tried to escape, not once but three times in the first year. During the second year in the
novitiate she was assigned to a mission where she would meet the person who would change her life
forever. There, the elderly mother superior, Sister Anna, taught her how to develop her true spiritual
self. As the years passed, her work taking care of those who lived in the poverty-stricken Brooklyn
neighborhood of her parish and beyond, brought her much joy and solidified her commitment to
being a nun. However, all that would change when she was reassigned to a wealthy parish on Long
Island. No longer allowed to attend to the poor, her life in the convent became unbearable. She knew
the only way she could be true to herself and to the mission instilled in her by Sister Anna was to
escape. But the decision was a lot easier than the deed.
