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What I Remember — From Eighth Grade (1964–1965)
I’ve heard it said that a child remembers nothing from his or her first three years. I’ve also heard it said that old people like myself — I turned 73 recently — remember more about their youth than they do about last week. Thus, as I prepare to attend my 55th high-school reunion of the class of 1969 later this summer, I thought it might be interesting to see what I actually remember from those early years, kindergarten through twelfth grade in the Catholic schools I attended in upstate New York. Since I don’t honestly remember much from those early years of school, I thought I would post my vague memories, and perhaps they might stir up the memories of others who attended school during that same era.
Once again, we were on the third floor of the building, but we were on the eastern end, and I remember having Sister Anne for math and Sister Samuel Joseph (some secretly called her “Sammy Joe”) for history. I remember one of my female classmates suffered some kind of foot injury that year, so for a while, she couldn’t climb the stairs. As a result, her dad, who I believe worked as a mailman, delivered her to the third floor each day by carrying her up all those stairs. Amazing, right? And yet, his actions symbolized what all of our parents were doing to support us during our formative years. Thank you, Lord.
