Name: This Houston Nun Waited Decades to Root for Her Home Team
Uploaded: 2022-09-14T10:58:28+00:00
Duration: 7 min 3 s
Description: In 2007, Texas Country Reporter met Sister Damian, the Houston Astros’ most patient and faithful baseball fan.

This Houston Nun Waited Decades to Root for Her Home Team

In 2007, Texas Country Reporter met Sister Damian, the Houston Astros’ most patient and faithful baseball fan.

Texas Country Reporter turns fifty in October 2022. Each week until then, we’ll share classic episodes from the show’s history and behind-the-scenes reflections from TCR’s creator and host, Bob Phillips.

One of the most difficult things in life, I think, can be making choices between the things you love.

As a kid, I can remember agonizing over conundrums like “Would you like ice cream or watermelon for dessert?” As silly as it seems now, it felt impossible to pick between my two favorite things in the world. Why couldn’t I have both?

But, of course, I realized you can’t always have both. And that’s why the story of Sister Damian has stuck with me over the years.

Before becoming a nun, Sister Damian was just a young Catholic girl growing up in Houston in the 1930s who loved watching baseball. It was her favorite thing in the world, outside of her faith.

At the age of eighteen, she committed to becoming a member of the Houston Order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament. She took on the new name of Sister Damian and pledged a semi-cloistered life. No more trips to the ballpark. Between her faith and her sports fandom, she couldn’t have both.

And that’s how it went for more than half a century. But I won’t ruin the story—you can see it for yourself in this episode from 2007. (I’ll just mention that it involves the octogenarian aboard the Houston Astros private team plane!)

Sister Damian passed away a few years later, but I’ll never forget her story—how she had to make a choice, but then later had it all.

By Bob Phillips

September 14, 2022 0

Video Credit: Texas Country Reporter (2007)