The Easter Celebration began six weeks before Easter. First there was Fat Tuesday. This was the day before Ash Wednesday. All sweets, delicacies, fat, etc. were to be purged from the house, so that the fasting could begin . My paternal grandmother had her own calendar. Because without fail, she made Punchki on Ash Wednesday. They were a home made, jelly filled donuts. Because they were fried and had jelly on the inside and sugar on the outside, they should have been made on Fat Tuesday.
As a child Lent wasn't so bothersome. I usually gave something up like candy or cookies. I couldn't eat meat on Wednesdays and Fridays, but neither could my friends. However, as a teenager, it was a horrible time for me! I am a dancer. I took tap & ballet lessons from the time I was not quite four years old until I was a teenager I had three different teachers. Then when I was doing my student teaching, I went to the Pittsburgh Playhouse for adult lessons in Modern Jazz! So, it was natural that I began going to the local "Teen" dances when I was in Junior High. At first I went to the Lower Burrell Fire Hall on Saturday nights. Then the crowd shifted to St. Joseph's Lyceum. For a few months everyone went to the dances at the local YMCA in New Kensington, then back to the Lyceum. By the time I was in High School I went to three teen dances every weekend: Friday night was at Henry's in a small building on the Tarentum end of the Tarentum Bridge; Saturdays, dances were held in the Tarena Roller Rink in Tarentum; and Sunday nights they were at Birdville Firehall in Natrona Heights. During the summer months when school was out, the Tarena also had dances on Wednesday nights. So when I was told I wasn't allowed to go to dances during Lent, I was devastated!
Having missed the religious aspect of fasting and praying, I was very sullen and couldn't wait until Lent was over! The worst week of all was during Holy Week, the last week of Lent that portrayed the Passion of Christ, culminating with Good Friday, then the Glorius Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, or Resurrection Day as I like to call it! In our house, there was a mandate by my parents for NO Television, NO radio, NO record player, NO dancing, NO singing, NOTHING!! On Good Friday we were to go to the three hour service, between twelve noon and three pm when Jesus was hanging on the cross. They had many sermons and the Stations of the Cross, dreary hymns, and a lot of incense!
One Good Friday my cousins and I found out that the three hour service in the church was soooooo much better than what we had to do if we stayed home! My family always met together, definitely over the weekend, especially Sunday after church. We had many children about the same age. We were very close. then there was a gap and another age group of cousins. We met at "The Hotel" my paternal family's business was a hotel, motel and bar with a dining room where weddings, banquets, etc. were held. We thought we were going to get away without going to church, but we didn't. My Aunt Ruth, along with my uncle and their four children, lived in a house perched on the edge of a big long hill called Hill Street, but the foundation of their house was resting on the ground where the gravel parking lot for the hotel ended. So, since everyone was busy that Good Friday, all of the children present that day at the Hotel had to go up to Aunt Ruth's house, kneel on the floor some in the doorway between the dining room and hall and across that hall from the kitchen where Aunt Ruth was baking! We had to kneel and pray the rosary over and over again. When some of us began to slack and whisper, Aunt Ruth would yell that we weren't all praying! Once some of us got the giggles that spread though our group like a wildfire. Aunt Ruth was even more upset! She reminded us that we had it much more easier than the old time sinners who had to kneel on uncooked rice on the stairs of the church and pray the rosary as a penance!
So, we found out that the three hour long mass was much more pleasant, even though we kept repeating, "We adore thee O, Christ, and we bless Thee because by Thy Holy Cross, Thou hast redeemed the world. At least at mass, we stood, we knelt on padded kneelers, we sang, we prayed
Friday, May 30, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
The Cafe - Pt. 2 - Buying a Town!
The Hereda's Cafe was located in the town of New Kensington. It is located along the Allegheny River. The City of Arnold adjoins it. Lower Burrell is like horseshoe hugging around New Kensington & Arnold. At the time of the Cafe, Lower Burrell was a township.
South of New Kensington was an area called Parnassus and beyond it is a community called Kinloch. Kinloch was begun as a coal mining town. About 1910 Valley Coal Co., led by Joseph G. Beale of Leechburg in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania developed a coal property in Lower Burrell Township. This town is located on a terrace and hillside adjacent to Pucketa Creek along PA Rt. 366. Then, in 1914, it was acquired by the Beale's Valley Coal Co. based in Cleveland, Ohio and led by J.A. Paisley. His General Superintendant was Harry E. Kinlock from Parnassus.
The town of Kinloch and Kinloch mine flourished. I was productive, even during World War I. It reached a population of 800 workers. There was a Company Store, Pay station, Community Building, several tenements, double and triple family houses and single family houses. One tenement building contained 23, two level apartments/row houses. It was a little south of the main area and was called "The Titanic." It faced the Old Greensburg Road. The first floor was on street level. The back of the building was exposed to ground level. There was a covered porch that ran the entire length of the building on the first level in the back of the building with wooden posts supporting it.
So the town flourished as well as the mine, even with several fatal and non fatal accidents in the mine. But that didn't affect the production of the mine. Although the production wasn't at its highest, in 1935 the mine was closed.
On 18 Sept 1936, they auctioned the town off. Can you imagine owning a complete town? Auctioneer F. S. Moran offered the whole 1,600 acres of the entire town. There were no bids. Next he offered blocks of houses. These did not receive any bids either. The townspeople were concerned because they did not know if they would have a place to live that evening. Most of the miners could not afford to purchase the houses they lived in. The terms of the auction were 20% down and the complete balance in 60 days.
There is documentation in newspaper articles of a woman purchasing the General Store and Community Building for $4,475. The general store was built for a cost of $10,000 and the Community Building valued at $10,000. I believe that woman was my paternal grandmother. I know the reports are not accurate. My family owned the Pay Station and the Community Building. The Pay Station had a huge, two story safe with many shelves and drawers lining the walls. It had a combination lock outer door and double door metal inner doors. I remember my grandfather opening the safe and spending weeks, once, trying out number combinations when he forgot the combination. He remembered the numbers, but not the order of them. So he wrote all the possible combinations down and tried one at a time, crossing it off when it didn't open the safe. Eventually he got it!
The PayRoll building was where the family lived when they first bought the property. They kept the Cafe on Fourth Ave in New Kensington, but lived in the Pay Roll two story building.
South of New Kensington was an area called Parnassus and beyond it is a community called Kinloch. Kinloch was begun as a coal mining town. About 1910 Valley Coal Co., led by Joseph G. Beale of Leechburg in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania developed a coal property in Lower Burrell Township. This town is located on a terrace and hillside adjacent to Pucketa Creek along PA Rt. 366. Then, in 1914, it was acquired by the Beale's Valley Coal Co. based in Cleveland, Ohio and led by J.A. Paisley. His General Superintendant was Harry E. Kinlock from Parnassus.
The town of Kinloch and Kinloch mine flourished. I was productive, even during World War I. It reached a population of 800 workers. There was a Company Store, Pay station, Community Building, several tenements, double and triple family houses and single family houses. One tenement building contained 23, two level apartments/row houses. It was a little south of the main area and was called "The Titanic." It faced the Old Greensburg Road. The first floor was on street level. The back of the building was exposed to ground level. There was a covered porch that ran the entire length of the building on the first level in the back of the building with wooden posts supporting it.
So the town flourished as well as the mine, even with several fatal and non fatal accidents in the mine. But that didn't affect the production of the mine. Although the production wasn't at its highest, in 1935 the mine was closed.
On 18 Sept 1936, they auctioned the town off. Can you imagine owning a complete town? Auctioneer F. S. Moran offered the whole 1,600 acres of the entire town. There were no bids. Next he offered blocks of houses. These did not receive any bids either. The townspeople were concerned because they did not know if they would have a place to live that evening. Most of the miners could not afford to purchase the houses they lived in. The terms of the auction were 20% down and the complete balance in 60 days.
There is documentation in newspaper articles of a woman purchasing the General Store and Community Building for $4,475. The general store was built for a cost of $10,000 and the Community Building valued at $10,000. I believe that woman was my paternal grandmother. I know the reports are not accurate. My family owned the Pay Station and the Community Building. The Pay Station had a huge, two story safe with many shelves and drawers lining the walls. It had a combination lock outer door and double door metal inner doors. I remember my grandfather opening the safe and spending weeks, once, trying out number combinations when he forgot the combination. He remembered the numbers, but not the order of them. So he wrote all the possible combinations down and tried one at a time, crossing it off when it didn't open the safe. Eventually he got it!
The PayRoll building was where the family lived when they first bought the property. They kept the Cafe on Fourth Ave in New Kensington, but lived in the Pay Roll two story building.
Thursday, March 20, 2014
The Cafe
My paternal grandparents came from Polish Austria, living in various south west Pennsylvania coal mining towns. After losing his leg in a coal mining accident, my grandfather settled his family of seven children in New Kensington, a town along the eastern shore of the Allegheny River about 20 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA. They bought a huge building along Fourth Ave. in the 1200 block. The building was two story, plus a cellar and was very long on the property stretching from the sidewalk in front, almost to the alley. Behind this long building was a small, all cement yard with a two story red brick house on the alley.
There was a long narrow enclosed walkway along the northern side of the long apartment building. At the end of the walkway was a door to the left that led to the upstairs apartment. Outside the back of this hallway was a cemented, covered outdoor walkway. It was outside the back door of the downstairs apartment. The covering was actually a narrow porch off of the large upstairs bedroom.
The family opened a shoe store in the front of the downstairs area. It was well known for the quality of the shoes and the service of the sales people. At some point the shoe store was closed and the family opened a Cafe, sometimes called "A Beer Garden."
All of the children worked at the Cafe at one time or another. Others got jobs in their chosen field and many worked at the Alcoa Aluminum Company located along the Allegheney River. This Cafe was an important beginning to a very imporatant part of my life!
There was a long narrow enclosed walkway along the northern side of the long apartment building. At the end of the walkway was a door to the left that led to the upstairs apartment. Outside the back of this hallway was a cemented, covered outdoor walkway. It was outside the back door of the downstairs apartment. The covering was actually a narrow porch off of the large upstairs bedroom.
The family opened a shoe store in the front of the downstairs area. It was well known for the quality of the shoes and the service of the sales people. At some point the shoe store was closed and the family opened a Cafe, sometimes called "A Beer Garden."
All of the children worked at the Cafe at one time or another. Others got jobs in their chosen field and many worked at the Alcoa Aluminum Company located along the Allegheney River. This Cafe was an important beginning to a very imporatant part of my life!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Elementary Games Played
When I was in Elementary School, my whole world of friends expanded. My parents bought a house on a dead end street with many children living there. There were two boys who were teens who ignored us. The one boy lived on the defunct farm at the end of the street and the other boy spent his time there. So, Patty & I were the oldest and Sandy was one year younger. After us there was an age drop of five years which was my sister's group of friends. Then there were various younger children.
When Patty and Sandy decided to exclude me, I would gather my sister and her friends and we would have a parade up and down the street. I was the head majorette and the others had to follow me! Some of the boys pretended to play drums or horns. As we got older, the boys would ride their bikes behind us, the majorettes.
My mom taught me how to play jacks. I would spend hours and hours playing jacks on the smooth cement of our side porch. Sometimes mom would play, but mostly my friends and sister played with me.
The best play time was after dark. Right across from my house was a street light that was home base for "Hide & Seek". We played for hours until our parents got tired of watching us from the front porches and called us in for the night. We also played other group games like "Upset the Fruit Basket". It was a great, fun time with many memories of all the children. We never had any fears. We knew our parents and neighbors would watch over us and discipline us if need be. It was an accepted fun-filled way of life.
When Patty and Sandy decided to exclude me, I would gather my sister and her friends and we would have a parade up and down the street. I was the head majorette and the others had to follow me! Some of the boys pretended to play drums or horns. As we got older, the boys would ride their bikes behind us, the majorettes.
My mom taught me how to play jacks. I would spend hours and hours playing jacks on the smooth cement of our side porch. Sometimes mom would play, but mostly my friends and sister played with me.
The best play time was after dark. Right across from my house was a street light that was home base for "Hide & Seek". We played for hours until our parents got tired of watching us from the front porches and called us in for the night. We also played other group games like "Upset the Fruit Basket". It was a great, fun time with many memories of all the children. We never had any fears. We knew our parents and neighbors would watch over us and discipline us if need be. It was an accepted fun-filled way of life.
First Grade
I'm following the blog ideas I found on a web page. It is so helpful to follow these suggestions. About 2 years ago I tried to join a blog group with Christmas topics. However, even though I followed the directions, I couldn't get my blog to merge with the groups blog :(
First grade was wonderful for me. After having Kindergarten cut short becaue our nun died, I was very eager to go to school. The wonder of those large reading charts that sister pointed to with a very long handled, rubber tipped pointer. Then after going over and over the charts, she would give us workseat papers to do and call us up to her desk one at a time. We had to read to her from the "Dick & Jane" readers. I loved them!
Soon after school began, I learned some valuable lessons. We had double desks with double seats. My desk mate was Marcella. That Friday of our first week shocked both me & Marcella. We learned that we had a time limit on studying those Spelling words! Sister began passing out the papers for our spelling test. I looked at Marcella and said, "I didn't know we were having a Spelling test today!" She answered, "I didn't study at all!" I was in panic mode! My first Spelling test!!! Yes, my mom went over the words with me at home, but I didn't know we were having a Spelling Test today!
As if things couldn't get worse. My seat mate put her open spelling book on the seat between us. I began to panic and tell her, "No!" Sister reprimanded me for talking, asking me if I had the heading on my paper? I just knew sister was going to see that book and I would be in trouble as much as Marcella, even if I didn't use the book!
Sister gave us the words and began walking around the room. I thought I would die or faint or wet my pants when sister came next to our desks and looked down!!!!!! She kept walking! Believe me, I told Marcella to never do that again!!! We would have both been in trouble! I made up my mind then & there I would learn my words as soon as we got the assignment, so I wouldn't have to be worried when the test was! Being in first grade wasn't as much fun as Kindergarten! I hated the double seats & tried not to socialize, except at recess!
First grade was wonderful for me. After having Kindergarten cut short becaue our nun died, I was very eager to go to school. The wonder of those large reading charts that sister pointed to with a very long handled, rubber tipped pointer. Then after going over and over the charts, she would give us workseat papers to do and call us up to her desk one at a time. We had to read to her from the "Dick & Jane" readers. I loved them!
Soon after school began, I learned some valuable lessons. We had double desks with double seats. My desk mate was Marcella. That Friday of our first week shocked both me & Marcella. We learned that we had a time limit on studying those Spelling words! Sister began passing out the papers for our spelling test. I looked at Marcella and said, "I didn't know we were having a Spelling test today!" She answered, "I didn't study at all!" I was in panic mode! My first Spelling test!!! Yes, my mom went over the words with me at home, but I didn't know we were having a Spelling Test today!
As if things couldn't get worse. My seat mate put her open spelling book on the seat between us. I began to panic and tell her, "No!" Sister reprimanded me for talking, asking me if I had the heading on my paper? I just knew sister was going to see that book and I would be in trouble as much as Marcella, even if I didn't use the book!
Sister gave us the words and began walking around the room. I thought I would die or faint or wet my pants when sister came next to our desks and looked down!!!!!! She kept walking! Believe me, I told Marcella to never do that again!!! We would have both been in trouble! I made up my mind then & there I would learn my words as soon as we got the assignment, so I wouldn't have to be worried when the test was! Being in first grade wasn't as much fun as Kindergarten! I hated the double seats & tried not to socialize, except at recess!
My play time as a Preschooler
As a preschooler, my favorite play time was definitely playing house with my dolls, kiddie table and chairs, dishes and pots and pans. My kiddie table and chairs were beautiful! They were a soft maple color. Each chair's back had a heart shape cut out of the wood with painting of arched swirls flaring out to each side from the bottom of the heart. I also had a child size opened top china closet, which had a more orangy maple & varnish finish. There were two shelves at the top with grooves to display the dishes upright. The third shelf was very high and wide. I had a real china, soft white tea set with dishes and wide cups and saucers. They were decorated with tiny blue dots spraying into medium sized open roses in reddish orange and blue.
Below the shelves were two drawers. I kept baby doll bottles, child sized pink plastic silverware, and real Alcoa Aluminum Company cooking utensils in the drawers. There were two doors that opened below the drawers. Inside the doors were two large shelves. I kept my pots and pans on the shelves. They were replicas of the pot and pan set made at the Alcoa Aluminum Company, located along the Allegheny River in my home town and where many of my relatives worked.
My favorite time of playing house was when my mom put my table, chairs, doll high chair & dishes outside in the area between our house and the big 12 foot wooden fence separating our property and the property next door. There was an overhang from the balcony off of my parents bedroom, so rain wouldn't bother us. I remember having some friends over and we had a tea party.
In addtion, I had a eight drawer chest that matched the china closet. They were both made by a man who was a friend of my extended family and customer at my paternal family's bar. I kept all of my doll clothes and shoes in those drawers. Now you know why I always told my mom, "All I ever want to be when I grow up is a Mommy!"
Below the shelves were two drawers. I kept baby doll bottles, child sized pink plastic silverware, and real Alcoa Aluminum Company cooking utensils in the drawers. There were two doors that opened below the drawers. Inside the doors were two large shelves. I kept my pots and pans on the shelves. They were replicas of the pot and pan set made at the Alcoa Aluminum Company, located along the Allegheny River in my home town and where many of my relatives worked.
My favorite time of playing house was when my mom put my table, chairs, doll high chair & dishes outside in the area between our house and the big 12 foot wooden fence separating our property and the property next door. There was an overhang from the balcony off of my parents bedroom, so rain wouldn't bother us. I remember having some friends over and we had a tea party.
In addtion, I had a eight drawer chest that matched the china closet. They were both made by a man who was a friend of my extended family and customer at my paternal family's bar. I kept all of my doll clothes and shoes in those drawers. Now you know why I always told my mom, "All I ever want to be when I grow up is a Mommy!"
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Kindergarten
When it was time for me to go to Kindergarten, I was more than ready! Most of the children in & around my neighborhood were older than me. So all except me & Richard, the boy next door, went to school before me. We lived on Fourth Ave. in New Kensington. The building was a huge two story, very deep apartment building. My father's parents owned it. The first floor & part of the second floor was occupied by my family: my mom, dad & me. My dad owned his own Plumbing and Heating business and his showroom and office took up three quarters of the down stairs. Our lobby (aka family room) was behind it, then our kitchen and then the sacred "good" living room.
Off of the kitchen were steps to the upstairs. Each day as my mom dust mopped these steps, she taught me to count with the Nursery Rhyme, "One two buckle my shoe". At the top of the steps was a bathroom. A small hallway was to the right. Straight ahead was my bedroom, later shared with my baby sister. It was small, but pretty. I had an overstuffed chair along the outside wall that held my stuffed animals, including my favorite, Mickey Mouse. To the right, off of the hallway, was my mom & dad's bedroom. It was large, with a locked door to the second floor apartment that was over the Plumbing Shop. There also was a door on the outside wall that opened onto a narrow, wooden balcony. That is where we stood at night and watched the drunk who lived in the upstairs apartment of the alley house on the next lot trying to manuver the steps & unlock his door when he came home very tipsy, singing at the top of his lungs, as well as swearing at the lock, key and door!
The plumbing shop had all glass across the front. Facing out to the street, there was an inset glass door on the left. Next to it, even with the front of the building were two large glass windows. There my dad had on display a beautiful colored fixture bathroom. That was a sad place for me. When the older children were walking past the window on their way to school, I stood there crying because I couldn't go with them :( My mom even packed me a metal lunch box to hold, like the school children, but it didn't help. I wanted to go to school with them.
So, when it was finally time for me to go to school, I was very happy! I went to St. Mary's R.C. School in New Kensington. It was run by the Felician Sisters associated with our Church. The school was a huge two storied red brick building with large windows. There was a very large cemented playground across the entire front of the building with large, 8 foot high black, wrought iron spiked fence across the front and one side. Facing the school, the huge brick church was to the right & was the boundary there. There was a very wide cement sidewalk down the middle of the playground leading to the front doors flanked by windows on each side and above. The left side of the playground was the girls' side and the right side, next to the church was the boys' side.
Along the back of the boy's side were very steep cement steps with black wrought iron railings that led to another cement area. It was between the school and church. Across the back were supposedly a girls' and boys' restroom. However, they were always locked and not working. To the left were large double metal doors into the school basement which housed the restrooms, a huge assembly room with a large, curtained stage & a huge kitchen to the left of the stage.
BUT to the right at the bottom of the cement area between the school & steps were two large metal doors that went into the basement of the church. Right inside the doors was a dark scary, very, very wide hallway with two very large rooms to the right. Wonder of wonders, inside these room were bright, colorful, high ceilinged rooms. The first one was the kindergarten playroom. It was high enough for a large metal sliding board with many other large play items crowded around it. My favorite was a double seated wooden garden swing that could easily hold 3-4 children on each side. This was a special place that we only went to once in a while. The second, very large, high ceilinged with large windows was our Kindergarten classroom. I LOVED my Kindergarten room, I LOVED my teacher, a nun and everything about it! This was well worth the wait! There were colorful bulletin boards and books everywhere. We had desks and we learned not only the standard kindergarten things, but Polish also. I remembered the day I stood on the chair in our lobby, shyly rocking back in forth and whispered to my parents that I could say The Lord's Prayer in Polish, including blessing myself.
My rapturous joy was short lived. Before Christmas, we were told to pray for our sister as she was sick. Kindergarten was suspended until after the holidays, but hope of it continuing kept me looking forward to the new year. Then, my mom sat me down at the kitchen table and with sadness in her voice, explained that I wouldn't be going back to Kindergarten at all. Sister had died and they couldn't get anyone to replace her. I would have to wait until first grade. I wasn't that sad. My grandpa died and I went to the funeral home & saw him, but he wouldn't wake up and talk to me. Now, I went to St. Mary's Cemetery with my aunts to show Grandpa how well I jumped rope. I couldn't see him, but I knew he watched me jump my rope from heaven and had a smile on his face that I did so well :)
Off of the kitchen were steps to the upstairs. Each day as my mom dust mopped these steps, she taught me to count with the Nursery Rhyme, "One two buckle my shoe". At the top of the steps was a bathroom. A small hallway was to the right. Straight ahead was my bedroom, later shared with my baby sister. It was small, but pretty. I had an overstuffed chair along the outside wall that held my stuffed animals, including my favorite, Mickey Mouse. To the right, off of the hallway, was my mom & dad's bedroom. It was large, with a locked door to the second floor apartment that was over the Plumbing Shop. There also was a door on the outside wall that opened onto a narrow, wooden balcony. That is where we stood at night and watched the drunk who lived in the upstairs apartment of the alley house on the next lot trying to manuver the steps & unlock his door when he came home very tipsy, singing at the top of his lungs, as well as swearing at the lock, key and door!
The plumbing shop had all glass across the front. Facing out to the street, there was an inset glass door on the left. Next to it, even with the front of the building were two large glass windows. There my dad had on display a beautiful colored fixture bathroom. That was a sad place for me. When the older children were walking past the window on their way to school, I stood there crying because I couldn't go with them :( My mom even packed me a metal lunch box to hold, like the school children, but it didn't help. I wanted to go to school with them.
So, when it was finally time for me to go to school, I was very happy! I went to St. Mary's R.C. School in New Kensington. It was run by the Felician Sisters associated with our Church. The school was a huge two storied red brick building with large windows. There was a very large cemented playground across the entire front of the building with large, 8 foot high black, wrought iron spiked fence across the front and one side. Facing the school, the huge brick church was to the right & was the boundary there. There was a very wide cement sidewalk down the middle of the playground leading to the front doors flanked by windows on each side and above. The left side of the playground was the girls' side and the right side, next to the church was the boys' side.
Along the back of the boy's side were very steep cement steps with black wrought iron railings that led to another cement area. It was between the school and church. Across the back were supposedly a girls' and boys' restroom. However, they were always locked and not working. To the left were large double metal doors into the school basement which housed the restrooms, a huge assembly room with a large, curtained stage & a huge kitchen to the left of the stage.
BUT to the right at the bottom of the cement area between the school & steps were two large metal doors that went into the basement of the church. Right inside the doors was a dark scary, very, very wide hallway with two very large rooms to the right. Wonder of wonders, inside these room were bright, colorful, high ceilinged rooms. The first one was the kindergarten playroom. It was high enough for a large metal sliding board with many other large play items crowded around it. My favorite was a double seated wooden garden swing that could easily hold 3-4 children on each side. This was a special place that we only went to once in a while. The second, very large, high ceilinged with large windows was our Kindergarten classroom. I LOVED my Kindergarten room, I LOVED my teacher, a nun and everything about it! This was well worth the wait! There were colorful bulletin boards and books everywhere. We had desks and we learned not only the standard kindergarten things, but Polish also. I remembered the day I stood on the chair in our lobby, shyly rocking back in forth and whispered to my parents that I could say The Lord's Prayer in Polish, including blessing myself.
My rapturous joy was short lived. Before Christmas, we were told to pray for our sister as she was sick. Kindergarten was suspended until after the holidays, but hope of it continuing kept me looking forward to the new year. Then, my mom sat me down at the kitchen table and with sadness in her voice, explained that I wouldn't be going back to Kindergarten at all. Sister had died and they couldn't get anyone to replace her. I would have to wait until first grade. I wasn't that sad. My grandpa died and I went to the funeral home & saw him, but he wouldn't wake up and talk to me. Now, I went to St. Mary's Cemetery with my aunts to show Grandpa how well I jumped rope. I couldn't see him, but I knew he watched me jump my rope from heaven and had a smile on his face that I did so well :)
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