Refreshed for the journey – At the baths of Lourdes, each pilgrim was instructed to replace all clothing with a large white sheet that was provided. I wore mine like a strapless pareo, while Milette knotted hers toga-style. I was hesitant about being immersed abruptly into cold waters, but Milette was reassuring and reminded me to leave around my neck the gold cross and chain that I wore throughout the pilgrimage (it belonged to my late mother). “You will be with your mother and the Blessed Mother in a profound way,” she said. We sat on one of the benches around the pools near the dressing booths. When my turn came, I submitted to the ministrations of the two attendants, each one positioned at both ends of the pool that looked like an elongated bathtub. The attendants wore nondescript blue-grey garments and veils, like nuns, although I learned that most of them were lay volunteers. They spoke in hushed tones. The woman at the head of the pool gently lowered me into the water, colder than I anticipated but it no longer mattered. I felt the flow of the spring waters that dated to the time of young Bernadette's encounter with Our Lady at the grotto of Massabielle.  After some moments, I was helped back on my feet, and as instructed, I waded to the other end of the pool, where a small colored picture of Mary was propped up at its edge. The receiving attendant whispered a reminder, as Milette had earlier, to say a prayer to Our Lady at the conclusion of the immersion. Too soon, I was assisted out of the pool, thankful, blessed, touched by eternity.