Very Old Memories

What do I remember about my early childhood? Our old apartment with the gas stove in the kitchen, linoleum, and my very tiny bedroom. We lived there until I was 5...on the second floor of an apartment building on North Summer St. One of my best friends...Barbara...lived across the street. Slosek's Lumber Yard was just down the street. My brother Bruce loved the Slosek brothers; they used to take him riding in the delivery truck when they rode around town.

I walked to Hoosac St School when I was in kindergarten. The school was a two-story red brick building that smelled of wood and polish, that typical old-school smell. The principal's office was on the second floor and from her office, she could look down the stairs and see any misbehaving kids. There was a schoolyard in the back (for games of dodge ball, tag, and red rover) and two sets of swings on either side. Next door to the school was the Polish bakery...pastries, bread, and rolls that you could smell baking across the school yard...mouth-watering good!

The kindergarten room was on the first floor. We hung our coats and stored our winter boots in the old-fashioned cloak room. The cloak room was a long, narrow room with a wooden floor. It had rows of hooks for coats and hats. In the winter, the cloak room was crowded with kindergarteners removing hats, mittens, snow pants, coats, and boots. And it was usually loud with the laughter of friends and colleagues.

The classroom was filled with rows of wooden desks and chairs, the kind that were bolted to the floor. In 1957, they were the kind that still had an inkwell and an indentation in the top of the desk in which to put a pencil. The desk top was slanted and worn, in need of refinishing. The top lifted up and one kept books and a pencil case inside. The walls were standard issue: Abraham Lincoln and George Washington's portraits on opposite walls, the American flag at the front of the room above the blackboard. The teachers desk was large and wooden at the front of the room. The rear of the kindergarten room was the best part though...it had a table large enough for about 6 people and brightly colored chairs...the only bright spot in the whole room. It was at that table that we learned to read...my all-time favorite kindergarten activity!

Mrs. Beaudin, my teacher, was scary. She was tall and had a very loud voice that became sharp when she demanded attention. On Valentine's Day, she told me, dressed in my red velvet skirt and white blouse, that I looked good enough to eat. I took it literally and was not sure I liked her at all! We girls all wore dresses to school and, in the winter, pants under our dresses to keep our legs warm. My best friends were Patty and Barbara, girls who lived close to me and with whom I walked to school every day.