Anthropology & Aging Quarterly 2012: 33 (4) 120 IntroductIon My third summer as a researcher in the infrmary wing of the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart Convent , I found myself sitting in Sr. Theresa’s small room 1 . Sr. Theresa was in her mid-eighties and had lived in the infrmary for two years due to trouble walking and her limited ability to navigate the convent hallways and to negotiate physical tasks of daily living. We spent the afternoon as we’d spent many afternoons together. She spoke to me about the spiritual books she’d been reading and she talked about the spiritual connection she felt with God in nature. She spoke for quite a while, stopping often to laugh with reverence about the mystery and beauty of the world. After a pause, she began a story about speaking to Jesus: The other night I was sitting here, and I said, “You know what Jesus? I feel like an old married woman and you’re an old married man.” And I said, “We’re sitting in a swing on a porch. That’s where I see us right now.” And I said, “And I get the idea that you’re thirsty,” I said, “So, I’m going in to get you some lemonade.” So I come out with a big glass of lemonade, and He nearly drinks all that then He looks at me and smiles and said, “How did you know I was thirsty?” And I said, “’Cause I love you.” ARTICLES Let Him Hold You Spiritual and Social Support in a Catholic Convent Infrmary Anna I. Corwin Department of Anthropology University of Californa Los Angeles At the end of this story, Sr. Theresa erupted into a bout of contagious laughter that punctuated all of her conversations. She ended the story with the statement: “so that’s my spirituality.” I asked her how often she talks like this to Jesus, and she exclaimed, nearly exasperated by the naïveté of my question: “OH! All day, all day! We’re inseparable.” Although Sr. Theresa was a joyfully unique personality in the convent – certainly the only person who mentioned sharing lemonade with Jesus – her relationship with the divine is nonetheless representative of the relationship many of the nuns have with the divine. A majority of the nuns in the Franciscan Sisters of the Heart describe experiencing the divine as an enduring presence in their everyday lives. They engage Him 2 in conversation, watch television with Him, or hold His hand as they walk the convent grounds. They experience Him variously as a spouse, a companion, a spiritual presence, and a caretaker. For almost all of the nuns in the convent, the divine is an enduring presence who accompanies them in every activity and shapes their experience of the world. In this article, I examine the caretaking interactions between the nuns in the infrmary wing of the Franciscan Abstract American Catholic nuns have been found to age more ‘successfully’ than their lay counterparts, living longer, healthier, and happier lives. Two of the key factors contributing to the nuns’ physical and mental wellbeing are the spiritual support they experience from the divine and the social support they provide for and receive from each other in the convent. I argue that by integrating the divine into their everyday interactions, the nuns engage in phenomenological meaning-making process through which mundane care interactions are rendered sacred. This communicative process, I argue, contributes to the nuns’ overall wellbeing by providing an enriched form of care and support, thereby enhancing their end-of-life experience. Keywords: Aging, Care, Prayer, Wellbeing, social support, Catholicism