A tragic tale of enabling and co-dependency

A reader from Providence passes on this sad story:

A 98-year-old Mother Superior from Ireland was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed trying to make her last journey comfortable. They gave her some warm milk to drink, but she refused it. Then one of the nuns took the glass back to the kitchen. Remembering a bottle of Irish whiskey received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened it and poured a generous amount into the warm milk. Back at Mother Superior's bed, she held the glass to her lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more, and before they knew it, she had drunk the whole glass.

"Mother," the nuns asked with humility, "please give us some wisdom before you die."She raised herself up in bed and with a pious look on her face said, "Don't sell that cow."

Of course the Mother Superior did not die, but it was too late to turn back. Next it was Ecstasy in the omelets and "Don't sell that hen," then cocaine sprinkled over the bacon and "Don't sell that sow," followed by a wool sweater dipped in huffable furniture varnish and "Don't sell that sheep." It's all so troubling.