physical ailments and frequent visits to a physician whom she held in high esteem. Mother was annoyed that grandmother relied to an extreme on this physician to solve her minor physical problems. Another impressionable story relayed to us by grandmother was about a dear friend who had visited Bethlehem with her husband. I recall grandmother showing me a Holy Land postcard sent by this couple to grandparent’s home and thinking that someday I would like to visit this area. However, after hearing further concerning this visit, grandmother relayed information regarding how disappointed her friends were, with the various exploitations of the Holy Family that were seen in restaurants and shops in and around the town of Bethlehem. As the story progressed to include the above information, my desire to visit this city waned.
Prior to beginning Kindergarten in the autumn, mother was made aware of the dress expectations of the school district. As part of the dress code, boys and girls were required to wear a clean cloth handkerchief pinned onto their garment at shoulder level. The reason for the close in proximity handkerchief was to provide for the cleaning of the nose or to cover ones mouth when coughing or sneezing to prevent the spread of germs. There were two Kindergarten classrooms and two sessions, morning and afternoon that were alternated in the middle of the school year. I enjoyed school, but found writing difficult as it created pain in my hand. School was my first introduction to many rules and regulations which sometimes resulted in me forgetting some of them. My teacher was firm and from my recollection had many discussions regarding “tattle tailing”. She taught the class to discern between minor and major tattling for infractions of school rules and behavioral problems. Any dangerous behavior observed concerning personal and group safety were always reasons to inform the teacher. In Kindergarten, I weighed eighty five pounds and was probably the tallest in my class. At five years old, many people thought me to be nine or ten years old. This also created greater expectations of me by some adults, who thought that I should be accomplishing more. However, mother always reminded them of my young age.
I recall an overwhelming sense of excitement, joy, and terror during the Christmas of 1963. Every year, an adult family member would dress up as Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, to deliver gifts to brother and I. Probably due to the birth of my brother earlier in this year, my parents, for a variety of unknown reasons decided to provide me with many gifts. To distract me from the “Santa” preparations, a family member lured me to the basement and then locked the door. The light was off and I was petrified. I screamed, kicked, and pounded on the basement door crying for someone to open the door. A few minutes seemed like an interminable amount of time. Finally, the door was opened and there before my eyes, was Santa Claus with more toys than I could possibly imagine creating an incredible ecstatic, joyful excitement in me. This over abundance of toys included a toy dog that walked, and dolls that talked, a kitchen set and a doll bassinet and so much more.
Retrospect: Newborn infants were treated with extreme care during this time period. Parents were cautious regarding the spreading of germs through dirt and air. Infant’s heads were always carefully supported and the soft spot was guarded. Their delicate skin was protected with appropriate clothing. Newborns were sponged bathed daily. The temperature of formula was precisely measured to body