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 :)