Death Benefit Read Online Free PDF

fashion. The rest was history, culminating in Pia’s decision, when she aged out of foster care, to join the convent with the idea of possibly becoming a novitiate.
    Pia would be forever grateful for what the mother superior had done for her in the years following her moving in, especially as it was an enormous improvement on what she had experienced in the foster care system. Although it was, in reality, another institution, Pia had finally been at peace. She had found the mother superior to be sympathetic not only in helping her adjust to the convent’s community living but also in helping her navigate the tempestuous waters in the real world beyond the tranquillity of the convent. It had been at the mother superior’s insistence that Pia turned to academia and became a superior student rather than an adequate one. But obtaining her high school equivalency and attending college had allowed Pia to learn about herself to the extent of realizing that a nun’s life was not for her. Instead she decided on a career in medicine, where she sensed she could excel and find equivalent peace. After all, during her entire tumultuous foster care experience, she had always viewed the doctor as the sine qua non of power and control of one’s personal destiny. But the decision had had consequences, especially with regard to the mother superior.
    About five years earlier Pia had made a similar appointment with the woman. It was then that Pia admitted that she was not going to become a sister but rather a doctor. It had been a difficult meeting as the mother superior had been obviously disappointed and made her feelings known. At the same time she had been encouraging about Pia’s new career track and voiced how desperately doctors were needed at their missionary locations in East Africa. Now, as Pia walked into the mother superior’s stark office, she knew she faced as difficult a situation as—and maybe even worse than—when she had decided against becoming a nun. The more she thought about her goals, the more she thought Rothman was right about her being uniquely qualified for medical research.
    “Pia, my dear, it’s a blessing to see you. We have all missed you. All the sisters ask about you day after day.”
    “And you, Reverend Mother.”
    Pia kept her eyes glued to her hands as they worked at each other in her lap. Her anxiety had peaked. She hoped it was not reflected in her voice. She had dressed simply in a black dress that broke at the knees and plain pumps. At first glance, the mother superior had looked the same as when she first met her ten years before. The uniform of the order helped with that. But Pia could tell that age was taking its toll. The mother superior had moved slowly when she walked around her desk to greet Pia. From Pia’s perspective her hand had felt bonier and more delicate when she placed it on Pia’s shoulder than on Pia’s previous visit a month or so previously.
    On the short train ride out of Manhattan, Pia had rehearsed what she was going to say. She wanted to be clear so there would be no misunderstanding. She was confident in her decision, more confident then than she’d been in Rothman’s office, but she knew the mother superior had a talent for ignoring what someone was saying as she worked the conversation back to a position more in tune with her interests and opinions.
    As the pleasantries continued, Pia’s mind rapidly played over the extraordinary changes her life had taken since she arrived at the convent in what, at that moment, seemed like a previous life. She was now in her fourth year at Columbia Medical School, as amazing as that sounded even to her. She recalled how difficult it had been to convince Columbia to accept her. She remembered how she’d had to explain why, at age eighteen, she’d decided to join a Catholic African missionary order. Her experience at New York University had been a breeze. From the get-go the college admissions people were convinced, no