"Old Time Rock n' Roll"

This morning on the way to work I heard "Old Time Rock n' Roll" by Bob Seger and it triggered something. I remember when I first heard that song. I was in 2nd grade music class at St. Stanislaus. My music teacher, I can't remember his name for the life of me but I remember what he looked like, wrote the lyrics on the chalk board and said that this was one of his favorite songs. He has us sing along to it and he played it on the radio. I remember sitting on the olive green carpet with my classmates watching him sing along and all that. I think that was the only year he taught there. I believe after he left, music was taught by one of the nuns. I dont' know because I don't remember taking music again at that school. I think that was my first and last music class while I was there. I transferred to another school right after 3rd grade.

Then I remember one of my classmates, Jordi. Her name was really Jordan which back then was different especially for a girl. Her mom, Miss Melanie, was my kindergarten teacher and she used to talk about Lionel Richie all the time. That was her favorite singer and her favorite song by him was Truly. (I can't stand that song for some reason) Anyway the kids used to roll their eyes when she would talk about him and all that.

I remembered a lot of things from when I was there. I've been passed the church and old school a couple times in recent months. The school is pretty much abandoned and I don't think the church is still in use. I know they used it for an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street once. But when I looked into the parking lot which we used as a recess yard I remember playing The Farmer in the Dell and just running around playing with my classmates. I looked over at the entrance to the school and remember going in there everyday and walking upstairs to my class. If you went downstairs where the pre-school was, you could smell the playdough before you hit the classroom. I remember they would hold a Christmas bazaar there every year and all the old Polish ladies would make things like crocheted air freshener covers and these little crocodiles that would hold a hershey kiss. Everything was really cheap so you could buy Christmas presents for your parents.

I remember sitting at a table and Alan brought in a snake and jumped on the table when it got out. I was petrified. Chris, one of my best friends used to like to eat rubber cement. I don't know how he pulled that off but he did. There were 2 Brians in my class; one could speak Polish and was really smart and the other could do long division was really smart but wasn't very nice. I remember my best friend, Kristy, who lived in Little Italy and how years later I would learn that she was hit by a car protecting her little sister. She didn't die but she was in a full body cast for a while. I remember the last day of 2nd grade we were allowed to wear regular clothes and I was talking to Jordi and she asked me if I knew who the Bangles were and what I thought of them. I remember saying to my best friend on the last day of 3rd grade when she got off the bus that I would see her next year. That was the last time I would ever talk to her. I transferred to public school for 4th grade.

When I was there last I looked over at the old Rectory and remember having to go there for Confession class and Communion class. I remember Father Thomas asking us all what our favorite color was and Jordi said black. He said black was the devils color and she said I don't care I like it. I remember my first confession. My Uncle Buddy had to take me because my mom had to work. I didn't like him, he wasn't a very nice person, so I really wanted my grandmother to go. She met me there.

I can still remember the daily routine: Hang up your coat, put your lunch away, sit at your desk. When the tone rang, we would stand up say the pledge, the Our Father, and the Hail Mary and we would sing one patriotic song. On Wednesdays we went to Mass. I didn't like the smell of the church. It smelled funny to me. It was probably the incense. I remember at the end of the school year, our teacher would have us wrap our hands in masking tape and have us crawl around on the floor to get the big pieces of dirt up. I know thats weird but thats what they had us do. I remember every single one of my teachers. Mrs. Critcher for 1st grade, Mrs. Schatz for 2nd, and Mrs. Fredericks for 3rd. Unlike my sisters, I didn't have any nuns for teachers except for religion class in 3rd grade. Since Mrs. Fredericks was Lutheran they wouldn't let her teach us about religion since it was a Catholic school.

I know this was a long entry but things just kept coming to me. I remember so many things. It's a biproduct of aging I suppose. Its so weird the things that you remember and what triggers it. All it took was an old song to make all those years come flooding back. This is just the tip of the iceberg....there are so many things I remember about that school and one day I'll write again about it. For now though I'm going to think about some of the people I used to know and about what they could be doing now.