Dominican College of San Rafael - Firebrand Yearbook (San Rafael, CA)

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necessity for each person to deserve his own dignity and respect that of others. Her presence bred an unconscious harmony and balance in every group. Warmth, sensitivity, charity and propriety were the qualities she tried to cultivate in her 'nlassiesf' These seeds were sown at the eight a.m. assemblies every morn- ing and the Dominican uimagev bore fruit under her care and guidance. A woman has an obligation to a productive life and Sister Thomas was educating women to this end. This education was not merely learned by rote g it was lived. It was a vital education, as active as her mind and heart. Her concern was not merely a token, it was the shuttle that wove together every thread of experience and per- sonality. For the first time the Alumnae Association will need name tags-no one else can remember, unaided, each member. And no one else can remember a popcorn party at Bolinas, long hikes to Chicken Point, and a suc- cessful senior recital and create the concordant atmos- phere for each individual. For so many Sister Thomas was Dominican. Sadly, too few of the current students knew her and consciously equate her person with the institution. But she is what we came here for. Her generosity, sensitivity, selflessness and love are the reason we sing at Shield Day, go caroling to Santa Sabina, and cry at graduation. We have all caught a little bit of Sister Thomas whether we know it or not. ELLEN MINTZ '69 I66

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SISTER THOMAS I came to Dominican because of the treesand Sister Thomas. I first met her on a rainy day in March of my senior year in high school. She talked to me as though it were the most perfect day she had ever seen. As we walked from the Motherhouse to Meadowlands to Guz- man I saw the campus to its best advantage-through her eyes. The trees were a much more special green from that point of view. We stood by the piano in Meadowlands and she told me about tea dances, now mixers, and the girls Who had met 4'their young men in that parlor. In Guzman she picked up a F irebrand, because hadn't you written that you enjoyed English and would like to work on the pub- lications? It was the 1954 F irebrand and she flipped through the pages telling me about each girl. Now that I remember it I am awed by her memory, but that day it seemed that all people must be, quite naturally, that gracious and interested. Sister Thomas was genuinely universal-she saw and learned and loved all the positive elements in life. When something was missing or wrong she mended it. There was not one person or occasion that was not in some way involved with her. She was 'atuned in to each separate frequency. She pursued all her interests with enthusiasm and discipline and the rewards of that life- style have benefited all of us. What she gave was an absolute regard for human dig- nity as intended by God. We have learned from her the l65

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DREAM-POEM I hold three gem-stones in my hand, Carved like scarahs. Light from a high cathedral window Strikes down upon them. I say to the little girl at my side: 4'Look! How the sunlight makes the carved lines glow Pliosphorescent gold l Like the first light of spring on Telegraph Hill Or Westminster Abbey. Come, let us take them out into full sunlight And see what happens. S0 we go out on the steps into the sun- Ancl the stones turn only dead and drah. MARY PRENTICE LILLIE BARROWS l Iflxdtfff mf