It is the dialogue here between Ms. Mack and Brother that is proof of the awesome (?!) fact that men and women in the Church talk to each other without restraint.  Wow!

If this is a first, is it the possible explanation for so many mixed marriages in my Dad's family all the way back to the mid-1800s?

Back in the early 1960s, despite the many restrictions on women's dress and curfews, etc., we who attended Catholic colleges were, however, able to talk to men without restraint.  Little did I know that this was so incredible.