School Past Present

I don't remember my first first day of school. Mommy Dearest maintains that I boarded the school bus and never looked back or waved bye-bye. Probably true; I knew where I belonged even then. Was Clyde Pecor driving the bus that day? Probably. He's the only bus driver I remember during all nine years of elementary school. Think scary Captain Kangaroo. But Mr. Pecor did have a heart; on especially cold winter mornings he'd let us move from our assigned seats to ones up front behind the driver. A hot air blower warmed our faces; left our toes frozen. We knew this was special treatment and were grateful.

Kindergarten took place in the church basement. 72 (That's right! Seventy Two!!) little, white, Catholic five year olds were left in the care of Sister Mary Lois Adele. No classroom aids. No resource person. And no breaks for "planning periods". I know nuns often have a very bad reputation; but she was marvelous. How else to describe a woman who managed that many kids day after day with only one bathroom for the girls and one for the boys. And I'm talking one seaters here, no multiple stalls. Best memories? Creating an entire Mr. MacGregor's garden diorama. Complete with Flopsy, Mopsy, Peter Cottontail AND all the vegetables in fenced in patches. The clay came in a four pack box: green, grey, red, and brown. Other best memory? Nativity Pageant where I took my one and only turn onstage as (yikes!) the Blessed Virgin Mary! I offered the use of our newest baby for the role of Baby Jesus. Catholic families at that time always had a new baby hanging around. We used a doll instead.

Today, 40 plus years later I had another first day of school. There was no school bus. I drove myself. Mommy Dearest was nowhere near the scene. I brought an apple for myself. Bathrooms were all over the place and had 10 or 12 stalls. (Sister MLA would have been dazzled!) I rejoiced that there was no snow and that the heater in my sad little car gave its all. The subjects of both classes had little to do with rabbits or the nativity. I had a blast. I still wish there would have been some brown clay in there somewhere.

Does this look like $651.45 worth? They should be priced by the pound.


My perfectly functional book bag. I found it in the boys department of the WalMart that isn't there anymore. I added the embellishment.

I love these notebooks. Found them at the Dollar Store. No blue highlighters, though.

My favorite red shoes. My youngest daughter gave them to me about three years ago and they are falling apart. The soles are like paper. They are NOT the brand name kind, but I love them. I'd wear them everyday. I wore them to my latest first day of school.