StoryWorth: “Did you ever get in trouble at school as a child?”
On my first day of school at St. Benedict’s in Geistown, PA, there was a bunch of boys fighting in the middle of the playground at lunchtime. They were tangled together like a squirming mountain, with arms and legs popping out here and there. Looked like fun so I jumped on top of the pile.
Big mistake.
A nun came out to break up the fight and grabbed me. Have no recollection who she was or what she said, but I knew I was in trouble. The problem: Didn’t know why.
Never got in much trouble after that. Didn’t want to get humiliated. Didn’t want to get smacked.
I remember one time Sister Mary Grace (our principal) came in from outside where it had been raining. As Benedictine nuns did at the time, she wore a long black robe with flowing sleeves and a thick bright white rope as a belt. Her face was encased in what looked like a white, starched headpiece that covered her forehead, ears, and neck. A black veil hung down from the top of her head to her shoulders — or thereabouts.
Sister Mary Grace was carrying a black umbrella at the time. She’d just closed it up and wiggled it back-and-forth to get rid of excess water-drops. That’s when she noticed two little kids talking in the hallway — which was forbidden.
The Sister moved her umbrella backward, like a tennis pro would with a racket, then swooped it down, bringing it upward in an arc at just the right angle to catch the bottoms of both kids at the same time.
It was quite impressive.
The only other time I recall getting in trouble was whistling while the rest of the class was clapping during a song. The nun in charge (can’t remember her name) stopped the music and yelled, “Who’s whistling?”
I froze. Couldn’t answer. Fortunately, no one turned me in. That was a relief.
In first grade I had As and two Bs. It was all-downhill after that. Why? I was always asking questions: “Why this?” and “Why that?” which irritated the nuns. Stopped asking questions. Grades tanked after that.
Too bad …
Copyright 2021
NOTE: My lovely daughter-in-law signed me up at StoryWorth so my grandkids have something to read about me when they grow up. I’ve decided to share bits and pieces of what I write for them on Medium. Here’s the website https://welcome.storyworth.com.
