S11.E06: Episode 6

[CrazyMoon]

18 minutes ago, natyxg said:

But I think they're trying to foreshadow some great tragedy to come. Trying to build up some suspense.

Agreed...and we have to keep in mind SMJ has mild dementia, so rendered unable to work consistently, not Alzheimer's (though not named at that point). She has period of great lucidity when pressed. The rest of the time she just lets it all hang out. 

[Cetacean]

1 hour ago, natyxg said:

But I think they're trying to foreshadow some great tragedy to come.

Clearly that's the plan.  But I wonder if it will be the physical Nonnatus House structure rather than one of its inhabitants.  We know that there are unexploded bombs in the district, maybe there is one hiding out in the basement or something.  Or maybe the council will decide to knock it down for high rise flats.

I think we are supposed to assume it's Sr. MJ but I could be way off.

[Badger]

Sister Monica Joan told Mrs. Greenhalgh that they both believe in voices of wisdom, but they don't necessarily agree where they come from. 

 

[Shermie]

10 hours ago, Cetacean said:

Sr. MJ

When I see Sr as the abbreviation for Sister, I always think Senior. Which works for Monica Joan, but not so much for the others. It throws me off while reading. :)

[kwnyc]

...Sister Monica Joan has also always been an adherent to astrology, which is, strictly speaking, not something the Church approves of. 

She's clearly been a great reader of philosophy and theology in her life, and is always looking for symbols and signs. (And yes, I believe she saw the white stag.)

[Cetacean]

4 hours ago, Shermie said:

When I see Sr as the abbreviation for Sister,

Beaten into me by the Catholic nuns.

[eel21788]

9 hours ago, Shermie said:

When I see Sr as the abbreviation for Sister, I always think Senior. Which works for Monica Joan, but not so much for the others. It throws me off while reading. :)

5 hours ago, Cetacean said:

Beaten into me by the Catholic nuns.

 

Did you also still write "JMJ" in the top right-hand corner of every piece of paper?

[Cetacean]

26 minutes ago, eel21788 said:

Did you also still write "JMJ" in the top right-hand corner of every piece of paper?

Absolutely except ours was in the upper left corner.

[Haleth]

The show can't afford to lose any more of its cast!  It's pretty thin as it is!

[txhorns79]

On 4/25/2022 at 2:24 PM, EllaWycliffe said:

Likewise, Lucille isn't going to get the post partum psychosis and start killing prostitutes (although she is pretty tightly wound).

And this kind of sums up Lucille for me.  She seems perfectly nice and kind, but she's also kind of boring.  I'm not saying I need her to start murdering prostitutes, but her personality is very bland.  I find Miss Higgins more interesting at this point, and aside from her being an annoying houseguest, her entire personality consists of being organized. 

[Leeds]

On 4/25/2022 at 4:47 PM, MartyQui said:

She was probably handed someone else’s clothes, I don’t think they kept yours handy in case you renounced your vows.  Fun fact: my mother donated her wedding gown to our local convent for a nun to wear when they became the “bride of Christ”.  My aunt donated hers, and it eventually ended up as a dress for an Infant of Prague statue in her church.

I pity the poor mother who gave birth to an infant big enough to wear someone's wedding dress.

On 4/27/2022 at 8:36 AM, Shermie said:

Personally, I want it to continue as long the concept of midwives and nuns delivering babies was a thing. I’d like to see how they transition to modern medicine, which they’re already doing, and how they deal with difficulties of the ‘70s. 

I guess if someone doesn’t enjoy the show anymore they can stop watching it.

I can't speak about nuns, and of course I don't know where you live, but midwives still deliver babies.  

On 4/29/2022 at 5:25 AM, Shermie said:

When I see Sr as the abbreviation for Sister, I always think Senior. Which works for Monica Joan, but not so much for the others. It throws me off while reading. :)

It throws me off too.  I see Sr as someone having typed too quickly and missed the i.  And then my sad brain tries to pronounce it.

[Shermie]

23 minutes ago, Leeds said:

I can't speak about nuns, and of course I don't know where you live, but midwives still deliver babies.  

Of course they do, and they are funded by the govt where I live.

What I meant was the world where nuns and midwives deliver babies, the moment in time that this show covers.

[AZChristian]

3 hours ago, Leeds said:

I pity the poor mother who gave birth to an infant big enough to wear someone's wedding dress.

There are charities that take donated wedding dresses and turn them into pretty little shrouds for babies who are stillborn or who die very young.

I would assume some people have used the fabric from old wedding dresses to create christening gowns.

[Leeds]

20 hours ago, AZChristian said:

There are charities that take donated wedding dresses and turn them into pretty little shrouds for babies who are stillborn or who die very young.

 

Nothing creepy about that.

[Rootbeer]

On 5/7/2022 at 12:20 AM, AZChristian said:

There are charities that take donated wedding dresses and turn them into pretty little shrouds for babies who are stillborn or who die very young.

I would assume some people have used the fabric from old wedding dresses to create christening gowns.

I have a friend whose mother was an accomplished seamstress and she did just that with her own wedding gown; creating beautiful christening gowns for the first child for each of her kids.  She knew that wedding gowns go out of style and it was not likely that her daughters or daughters-in-law would want to wear her dress, so she brainstormed an answer and her dress lives on after her.  Several of her grandkids are now grown and looking forward to someday having kids to wear their christening gown from Grandma.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Rootbeer

[MissLucas]

On 5/8/2022 at 3:22 AM, Leeds said:

Nothing creepy about that.

It's not creepy at all but a means to help families cope with their loss. Research shows that removing stillborns ASAP like it was done for a good part of the 20th century can add to the trauma. So nowadays families are given the opportunity to say proper goodbye - and part of that can be to dress the stillborn in nice clothing. And if the family does not want a ceremony, photos are taken and archived for a while because sometimes they change their mind and appreciate a token of remembrance. These pictures are often a vital part of their mental health journey.

Incidentally this is something our ancestors knew - in the late 19th and early 20th century it was not unusual to photograph stillborns or deceased babies and keep these photos - often framed with dried flowers or embroidery - around. I've worked with such objects as a curator and I know people find them creepy but who knows what future generations will have to say about our urge to put a giant taboo on death.

 

[Rootbeer]

11 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

It's not creepy at all but a means to help families cope with their loss. Research shows that removing stillborns ASAP like it was done for a good part of the 20th century can add to the trauma. So nowadays families are given the opportunity to say proper goodbye - and part of that can be to dress the stillborn in nice clothing. And if the family does not want a ceremony, photos are taken and archived for a while because sometimes they change their mind and appreciate a token of remembrance. These pictures are often a vital part of their mental health journey.

Incidentally this is something our ancestors knew - in the late 19th and early 20th century it was not unusual to photograph stillborns or deceased babies and keep these photos - often framed with dried flowers or embroidery - around. I've worked with such objects as a curator and I know people find them creepy but who knows what future generations will have to say about our urge to put a giant taboo on death.

 

Nowadays, there are actual professional photographers who will come to the hospital and take photos for families.  Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep is one well-known volunteer organization that does it.  They take photos of the entire family with the baby and anything else that the parents want documented.  They then present the family with a beautiful album.  Families are encouraged to bring clothing to the hospital for the baby.  If they're not able to do so, the hospital where I work as well as most others, has a supply of hand-knitted hats, booties and blankets for stillbirths of all sizes which the parents can keep afterwards.  As soon as feasible after the delivery, the nurses place a diaper and hat on the baby and wrap it in a blanket, it's part of helping the family cope with the moment as well as a sign of respect for the life that was lost.

I think the most important thing is to give the parent(s) a sense of control and to acknowledge their child however they wish.  Not all parents want to hold or see the baby initially, but, letting them know that the baby is theirs and can be with them in their room, in their arms, anytime they like is a big part of it.  I don't recall even having a mother who never saw or held her baby.

[caitmcg]

On 4/25/2022 at 5:18 PM, Cetacean said:

I would imagine that, in some cases, those clothes would be hopelessly outdated. 

I recently watched that episode, and when Sister Evangelina opens Shelagh's suitcase (which she says was put in the vault in 1948, so 10-12 years prior), she pulls out the shoes and says Shelagh can't wear them, because they’ll look so outdated. Then she says she'll spiff them up the best she can.

[jschoolgirl]

2 hours ago, caitmcg said:

I recently watched that episode, and when Sister Evangelina opens Shelagh's suitcase (which she says was put in the vault in 1948, so 10-12 years prior), she pulls out the shoes and says Shelagh can't wear them, because they’ll look so outdated. Then she says she'll spiff them up the best she can.

Yes, Sr. Evangelina exclaimed "Utility shoes!" "Utility clothes" and "utility furniture" were made from rationed material during World War II. Probably after as well, because rationing continued into the 50s.

Edited May 11, 2022 by jschoolgirl

[marypat57]

On 4/29/2022 at 6:24 PM, Cetacean said:

Absolutely except ours was in the upper left corner.

In my school it was “JMJD”; because after all, we were educated by Sparkill Dominican Sisters, aka Sparkies.  That was in elementary school.  High school was down the block (in fact a favorite daydreaming task of mine in grade 5 was looking out the window and watching them hoist the girders for the new high school) and was also staffed by the Sparkies, and the Sisters of Mercy from Brooklyn .

[Chalby]

On 2/10/2022 at 8:49 PM, purist said:

Word. But it was good to see the wonderful Frances Tomelty as the psychic.

Plus, although Sister Monica Joan's childish pursuits and stubbornness are annoying, she does represent the frustration of senility. I often see my mother's decline in Sister MJ's performance 

[Chalby]

On 4/24/2022 at 7:06 PM, Cetacean said:

Good grief, the sword of Damocles is hanging over Nonnatus House.  Who's going to get killed off? 

It is amazing what our memories hang on to. I read your first sentence, and was immediately reminded of a song in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. That's one of the lines the "creature" sings.