“Sometimes, you hear a story that makes you feel like the world is a beautiful place” That’s what I thought when I got this note from Sister Ann McKenna, who lives in Warwick: “16 years ago,” she wrote, Simone Biles recalls the a major part a retired nun played in her life

Sometimes, you hear a story that makes you feel like the world is a beautiful place.

That’s what I thought when I got this note from Sister Ann McKenna, who lives in Warwick:

“Many years ago,” she wrote, “I taught school in Belize. For 2 of those years, Nellie Cayetano was one of my students. Later in life Nellie became the mother of Simone Biles.”

I hadn’t realized that one of the greatest Olympians of all time was raised by a woman who came from Central American poverty. And that a nun in my backyard helped school that mom.

Sister Ann, now 82, daughter of a mechanic and bookkeeper, went into the Sisters of Mercy right out of Providence’s St. Xavier Academy and is about to mark her 65th year doing God’s work. There’s a lot of that in her family. Her brother, Father Eugene McKenna, is a retired priest who lives in Matunuck.

I met her at the humble home where she has lived since age 10, a few blocks off Post Road in Warwick.

Sister Ann retired herself two years ago, but you wouldn’t know it – she still volunteers at the Sisters of Mercy Warde-Robe thrift store in Central Falls and gives rides to fellow Sisters who don’t drive anymore.

One of her early assignments from 1967 to 1969 was teaching seventh and eighth grade in a Belize public school. She had her hands full, with more than 50 kids in the class.

One of them was a 12-year-old named Nellie Cayetano.

Sister Ann remembers her well since, at that grade level, you’re teaching the kids from 8 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Young Nellie was religious and involved in many extracurriculars.

Sister Ann recalls that Nellie’s parents, though without great means, were active in the church and community, as well as their daughter’s life.

This week, Nellie has often been shown in the stands rooting for her daughter Simone. Sister Ann, glued to the TV for the Olympics, remembers that face well.

It was back in 2016 that Sister Ann first realized her student had raised an Olympian. Back then, Simone Biles was a young talent heading for the Rio games, but with a different last name, Sister Ann wasn’t aware of any personal connection.

Then, at a funeral at St. Mary Star of the Sea in Narragansett, Sister Ann heard the church had a Belizean staffer named Daria. Before the service, Sister Ann approached her and took a shot in the dark to ask if she by chance knew the Cayetanos, who were so active in the community that they were the likeliest of all her student families to be well-known.

Indeed, Daria knew the family well, and she shocked Sister Ann by saying that Nellie’s daughter was heading to the Rio games.

Sister Ann started following her closely – along with much of the world – and a year ago she was moved by Simone’s prominence to finally send a note to her mom, Nellie, congratulating her. Sister Ann wasn’t sure if Nellie would remember her teacher from 50 years ago, but she did, and sent back a photo of Simone and a personal note.

“Dear Sister Ann,” Nellie Biles wrote. “Wow – I can’t believe I am hearing from you. This is so wonderful. Our family’s journey over the past ten years has been nothing but a blessing. Not sure what the Lord has in store for us in the next, but we are ready. Thanks for following Simone. Super proud. Thanks for remembering me with your kind words.”

I took a moment to look into Simone’s background online, and though I’d recalled her having a tough childhood, I hadn’t really dug into the details.

It’s truly a story of rising above challenges.

Simone was born in Columbus, Ohio, one of four siblings of a birth mom with addiction issues bad enough for the state to put the kids in foster care.

When Simone was 3, her grandfather Ron Biles and his wife, Nellie Cayetano Biles, began caring for her and one sibling in their Houston area home, while an aunt cared for the other two.

Decades earlier, while stationed at Randolph Air Force Base outside San Antonio, Texas, in 1976 Ron had met Nellie, who was a student at a nearby nursing school there.

Ron and Nellie soon formally adopted Simone and went on to raise her, even doing home-schooling when Simone realized that was a necessary path in her immersive gymnast journey.

In June 2021, young Simone posted a photo of herself with Ron and Nellie on Instagram.

“Appreciation post for my sweet parents,” Simone wrote, adding a heart emoji. “Thanks for making sacrifices since day 1 so I can live out my dream. but most importantly thanks for always being there for me through all the highs and lows. You guys are the absolute best. I love y’all.”

When I asked Sister Ann what impressed her most about Simone Biles, she said it wasn’t just her sports achievements, but how brave she was in publicly confronting her mental health challenges, and how she has been there for teammates who at times have had their own struggles.

I told Sister Ann this struck me as a story of anything being possible, reflecting both the rise of Nellie from Belizean poverty and Simone from a difficult early childhood.

Ever the teacher, Sister Ann told me it was true, but also a reflection that both Nellie and Simone had found opportunities that aren’t always there for people without means. That has been a lot of Sister Ann’s work – to bring hope and new chances to the underserved.

Sister Ann added – you also have to work for your dreams.

Clearly, Nellie Cayetano did, and helped teach her daughter Simone Biles to do the same.

And just maybe, some of that came from the lessons taught by a nun from Rhode Island named Sister Ann.