Writings from Áine Greaney

This essay was first published in The Lowell Review , 2023.     For more of Áine's published writing and teaching information, visit her  author website .  © Under U.S. copyright laws, it is illegal to copy or re-use this text without the author's permission.   *** Unnatural  The Aran jumper is a style of  jumper   (sweater) that takes its name from the  Aran Islands  off the west coast of Ireland . . .  The Aran stitches have a multitude of interpretations and symbolic meanings.  1   In that tiny room, Sister G. said, “Now, I’m really worried about you two.”   As she said it, I could smell the nun's breath—that sugary, confectionary smell that, every lunchtime, wafted from the kitchen windows of that small-town convent in south County Mayo.  It was 1976, and “you two” were my best friend Pauline* and me.  At 14 and a half, I was a year-plus younger than all of my convent-school classmates. Now, standing there in her navy-blue school uniform, Pauline cocked her chin and sai