Despite Health Issues, Benedictine Sister Lifts Others Up
Sister Michelle Willett of the Sisters of St. Benedict of Ferdinand has been thrown one cancer after another, then a stroke, then some more cancer.
But you would never know it by her disposition. Even though she is wheelchair-bound and paralyzed on her right side, she is funny, engaging, energetic and filled with faith. And so determined to help others despite her own predicament, and so successful at it, that she’s changed people’s lives.
Who would have ever thought that several of the sisters she lives with in Hildegard Health Center, the nursing facility within the Monastery Immaculate Conception in Ferdinand, now play a raucous weekly game of Wii bowling?
Leave it to Sister Michelle, 59, to boldly lead many of Hildegard’s other 16 residents, from their 70s to 97, to places they’d never been before. Or even dreamt of.
Like taking a surprise Halloween trek in their wheelchairs through the monastery’s living quarters, merrily distributing treats, but also sneakily teepeeing fellow sisters’ doors. Or joining Sister Michelle in her self-created card-writing ministry that brings joy and inspiration to others every day. Or adding to her signature howls of laughter as they gather in her room to munch popcorn and delight in watching another Dean Martin classic comedy.
It’s no wonder Sister Michelle won the coveted Karen Bell Caring Award last fall sponsored by Generations, the area agency on aging based in Vincennes. Fittingly, she was presented the award after giving an inspiring speech at a Vincennes gathering of about 300 residents of 23 nursing homes in southwestern Indiana.
Ann Cardinal, the agency’s long-term care ombudsman for six Indiana counties, told the crowd that she picked Sister Michelle to give the keynote speech because “she is so open-minded about her condition and a wonderful person to give us reasons to get out of bed every day.”
Her health issues started about six years ago, when her parathyroid gland had to be removed. Then cancer was found in her thyroid, so that was removed, too. Then she tripped on some steps, falling and breaking her left shoulder. While in the hospital, a cancerous tumor found in her kidney was removed. Two tumors were also found in her brain. A chest X-ray revealed small tumors in her lungs. Then, in July, 2010, she had a stroke in her monastery room that caused her partial paralysis. Luckily, her left arm is still useable, and she’s left-handed. And, unlike many stroke victims, she never lost her ability to speak, which is a major asset as she brings joy to others with her humor, and motivates many with her confident, infectious, and positive attitude.
Last fall, another cancerous spot was found on her rib. Then three more in her head.
But through all the disheartening news, she’s kept her spirits high, and a smile on her face. She joked about the loss of her hair to the Vincennes crowd, asking if they liked her “inverted Mohawk” haircut. Before starting chemotherapy for her most recent cancer, Sister Michelle was told her hair would turn color. She requested magenta.
A sister mentioned she heard that more knots were found on her head. “Yeah, just call me knobby,” replied Sister Michelle, keeping things as light-hearted as ever.
Told that Oblate Judy Powers described her as so cheerful, so full of God, so faith-filled, and that Powers was impressed that she never complained, Sister Michelle simply said, “Well, what is there to complain about? I’m so lucky to be alive.”
Part of her charm is the jokes she cracks no matter how dire her circumstances. On the emergency helicopter flight to Louisville after her stroke, she told an attendant she’d never been on a helicopter before. When asked if she was scared, Sister Michelle said no, this is going to be fun, then laughed. The attendant later said they never had a patient that happy about riding in an emergency helicopter.
“During the ride, I said a prayer to God,” recalls Sister Michelle. “I said, ‘God, you’re in control, because I can’t do anything, other than talk and move my left arm.’ I said, ‘God, I’m in a real bad situation, so I need all the help I can get, and I will do whatever I need to do to keep myself in a positive mode, and a happy mode.’ I’ve done that ever since.”
While she was recovering in Louisville for a week, her good friend, Sister Anna Marie Brosmer, stayed with her the entire time, sleeping in a recliner by her bed. As a night-time nurse in Hildegard, Sister Anna Marie still regularly helps tend to her.
“She knows her time is limited and she’s going to live the best she can,” says Sister Anna Marie. “She’s so full of energy, and not afraid of anything. She keeps saying, ‘I’m going to live until I die.’ Recently she mentioned, “If I die tomorrow, I’m at peace.” What a wonderful thing to say. She knows she’s not going to live long, so she just does whatever she can for other people. Her personality has made people in Hildegard blossom. Some of the senior sisters who had been shy have really come out of their shell. It’s amazing.”
There’s no question her helicopter prayer to stay positive has been answered. And part of that answer may have come in the bulging bag of get well cards and letters awaiting her when she returned to the monastery after a rehabilitation stint in Evansville.
“I was humbled and overwhelmed with all the people wishing me well, and I knew I had to thank them,” says Sister Michelle. “So I wrote everybody a card that had called me or wrote me. Then I started sending cards for all the sisters’ birthdays and feast days, then sympathy cards, get well cards, and anniversary cards to all kinds of people. That’s how I began my card ministry.
“And I got the other sisters involved in the card-writing. So now it’s OUR ministry. As for the trick-or-treating and the Wii bowling, the whole idea is just to have fun. I also go on the Internet and find jokes, poems, gags, and cartoons that I include in the cards.”
She told the Vincennes audience she enjoys living in the nursing home, and gets up every day and thanks God she’s alive, and can do things, whether she’s sick or not.
There were 12 nominations for the recent Karen Bell Caring Award that Sister Michelle won. According to Ann Cardinal, it’s given to the nursing home resident that is deemed to provide “the most outstanding extra help in the facility to help others.”
In the nomination letter for Sister Michelle, Hildegard sisters and staff wrote, “Sister’s cheerful presence . . . through phone and mail . . . letting (others) know of her prayers and concerns . . . Sister has developed a greeting card writing ministry reaching out to many . . . (she) notices those around her who need assistance and encouragement . . . initiates conversation and activities . . . enjoys sharing with others . . . shares her positive attitudes . . . takes an active role in her own health, (motivating) others to stay active. . . .”
Violet Sims, 82, from Odon Nursing Home, was among those who heard Sister Michelle’s speech at Vincennes. Sims’ daughter, Anita Aders, a monastery employee, later sent an email to Sister Michelle, saying my mother “went on and on about your talk and about how you had inspired her. She wanted me to let you know how much she enjoyed it . . . my sister said all the nursing home residents were talking about you on their trip (home). She said your words were ‘life changing’ for them . . . thank you for your willingness to share your experiences with a group of strangers . . . you truly did make a difference in their lives.”
Sister Michelle entered the monastery in 1981. She worked with mentally handicapped children for several years, a nice fit for someone with her personality.
She even made an impression on doctors and nurses caring for her in recent years.
“In Evansville, those doctors loved her,” says Sister Anna Marie. “They would come in early because they knew she’d be telling jokes, be so pleasant. The staff said, ‘You’re awesome. We have to deal with brain tumors daily, and you just come along and brighten our day.’
Said Sister Michelle, “One doctor told me, ‘Thank you for being here, and being so supportive to the patients here, bringing them such joy and delight.’
“I come up with these crazy ideas, and ask the Hildegard sisters if they want to do them. Sometimes their eyes glaze over, but we do it. It’s just fun. I keep telling them, you can’t just sit around doing nothing, because you’re not dead yet. I’m not a quitter.”
Many sisters marvel at how her positive energy is changing all the sisters, not just the ones in Hildegard.
And behind it all is the power of prayer. “My prayer life has grown so much since being here, because in a sense, that’s all we have,” says Sister Michelle, softly. “We’re always praying for other people. And I just keep asking God, ‘You have something in mind for me, please guide me on it.’ When I had the brain surgery, I kept saying, ‘God, you know what’s in the plans, I don’t, but I’m going to believe in you.’"
The hundreds of people who have received her cards, all with a personalized note that really sets them apart, are the benefactors of her prayers. And many tell her how much they appreciate it, especially the personalization.
As Ann Cardinal told the Vincennes audience, “She has chosen not to stay in her room, to be depressed, and to think of her disabilities. She could be, (but) she is living every day, and helping others, and that’s what you all can do.”
“Sister Michelle’s prayer life is more oriented to other people,” says Sister Anna Marie. “For her, I think it’s like, if she can help you be a better person, she’ll do that, without you knowing it.”
