NONCO by Debbie Hardy LaGrange
Submitted by Debbie Hardy LaGrange
Debate was de rigueur in our household; however, there was no discussion when the subject was Nonco's annual play. My brothers and I were going to take part. Case closed.
" Nonco's
coming," one of us
would shout and we would all run to look out of the large picture window in the
living room. Walking down our driveway was a shriveled old man wearing a gray,
wrinkled suit with a satchel slung across his shoulder. His arms always crooked
at his elbows. His hands perpetually caressing a leaflet imprinted with a
devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus held lovingly to his chest. His string of
black prayer beads and a smooth wooden cane hung on his wrist. Nonco's
small dogs danced happily around him. We would open the door and at once become
transfixed by the countenance of a holy person. His head slightly tilted to one
side, his shy smile slanted. He always seemed sad to me. No doubt it was
because he was witness to a world becoming more secular by the day. We would
invite him to come in but more times than not he was in a hurry to be on his
way. He would hand us small pieces of paper upon which he had written our
individual lines to be memorized for the upcoming performance. Even at a young
age I think we knew he was special.
Nonco
would move on to countless
other households performing his daily ritual, delivering an intimate knowledge
of the Son of God to the many families in Arnaudville, Leonville and Cecilia
who would welcome him into their homes.
