Chapter Two: Rochelle Street

 When I was six, my parents bought a house in the North end of Worcester on Rochelle Street. It was exciting to move to a new house. The neighborhood boys, Randy, Perry, and Eddy, engaged us in a game of Cowboys and Indians on our first days there and tied some of us to trees. They were a mischeivous trio of boys that both exasperated us and entertained us during those early days on Rochelle Street.

Our house was a small cape painted green. Mom and Dad had a bedroom on the first floor, and there was a room for the boys and a room for the girls on the second floor. When we moved in there were four of us. I was six, Paul was 4, Christine was 2 and Peter was a new baby. Mom and dad worked tirelessly to make the house look beautiful. Our room had pretty curtains, a decorative lamp, and nice bedspreads. 

We lived a few doors up from St. George's Church which was a centerpiece of our young lives on Rochelle Street. Mom joined the Women's Guild, Dad belonged to the Men's Club, and we attended Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes at the church.

I remember one of my first lessons in the church's rectory well. We were sitting in a beautifully designed alcove of the rectory surrounded by large windows. The CCD teacher was teaching us that God is everywhere. The sun shown through the windows brightly, and I remember thinking that the light was God--it was a beautiful moment.

My parents signed me up for school. I started Kindergarten at Indian Hill School. I remember the first day vividly. I wore a plaid dress, a plaid kerchief, and brown leather shoes. When I walked up the shiny mahogany steps with the smiling teachers peering down from the top of the steps at us, I was filled with happiness. I was very excited to go to school. My kindergarten classroom was very large with high ceilings and floor to ceiling windows. It was bright and filled with all kinds of learning tools. My teacher, Ms. Ball, played the piano. We sang songs and marched, took naps as we listened to Ms. Ball read stories, made beautiful bulletin boards, planted seeds, and learned to write our names. I had a pretty pink blanket with a satin border for nap time--I loved that blanket. I had many firsts in kindergarten. When Ms. Ball read the book, Make Way for Ducklings, it was the first time I realized that a book could be about a place that been too. I had been to the Public Gardens in Boston--I identified with the story. Ms. Ball also showed us her slides from her trip to Holland. That was the first time I realized that there was a world bigger than my own world in Worcester. It was a revelation. I remember the excitement I felt. 

There were other kindergarten memories and awakenings. Sue Adams sat in front of me. Her hair was almost white, thick, and straight. I thought it was beautiful. She was also a great artists with very interesting stories about her family's adventures. I was intrigued by Sue. I learned that I didn't really like milk in kindergarten, at milk time, I always skipped drinking my milk. On winter days, we'd place our wet mittens on the large metal furnace to dry them out, and together we'd make beautiful themed murals for our giant bulletin board. My favorite was the winter mural because the paper cut-outs had skaters, sledders, and snowmen--my family always had a lot of fun in winter, so that mural reminded me of all the fun we had. 

I still remember the songs we sang each day such as Walk to School and Everybody Come Everyday. When I was in kindergarten, I decided that I'd like to be a teacher, and I would often play school at home relegating my brothers and sisters to be my students whether they were interested or not. 

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