HOW I FELL IN LOVE WITH A PRIEST

Chapter 8: Life Outside the Parish

When we left the parish, we had almost nothing. No savings. No furniture. Just two hundred dollars the church gave us and the courage to begin again.

We rented a single room just outside town. It was small, so small that at night our bed touched the walls on both sides. The ceiling leaked when it rained and the floor was cracked cement. But it was ours.

David found work at a small hardware store as a driver. They gave him a battered old truck, and he made deliveries of cement, bricks, roofing sheets. He came home every evening covered in dust and sweat but he always smiled when he walked through the door, happy to see me.

I found work at a small school for children with special needs. The pay was meager, but the work filled me with joy. The children clapped their hands in the air when they were excited, and their laughter was the...