Happy Days: Grade School
Growing up in Glen Ellyn was happy time for me. I grew up in a great neighborhood on Glendale ave. I went to a great church and school at St Petronille. The village of Glen Ellyn with its narrow tree lined streets and cement sign posts made an ideal place to grow up. Lake Ellyn was a nice park filled with tall trees and a lake which made a great place to watch fire works. It had a solid downtown filled local business owners like my father. Stores selling everything imaginable from clothes to hardware to liquor to groceries to toys. It had a volunteer fire department made up of local men from all walks of life. You would hear the siren go off and soon cars with blue lights flashing would be speeding through the streets. Glen Ellyn was big enough that you didn't know everyone but small enough that you couldn't get away with too much without your parents finding out.
As a family, our favorite place to go out for food was Don & Angie's Restaurant. They had great thin crust pizza and Italian food. Don and Angie were great people and friends of my parents. I never or rarely saw other customers in the restaurant area. Don talked and looked like he was in the Italian mob. In the back of my head, I always wondered. Interestingly enough, in early days of Saturday Night Live, the restaurant was highlighted in one of SNL's fake commercials. One night, we went there for a late dinner after the store closed. It was Black Friday. Glen Ellyn had a Christmas Walk. It was a night where all the stores stayed open late and served cookies, finger foods and punch. My parents served spiked and regular punch. I think I had several cups of spiked punch. By the time we got to the restaurant, I was feeling light headed and sick to my stomach. I think I was a little tipsy.
My parents store was only a couple of blocks from St Petronille School so I had to walk to the store during lunch and recess. I always thought it was a little bit of a rip off. I got less recess time, and it seemed like some of the best stories happened while I was gone. St. Petronille had a pool so we had swimming several times a week. There was all sorts of hyjinks going on while changing our clothes from towel stealing to towel snapping to giving someone a wedgy to pulling someone's swimsuit down. If you talk to Sr Bernadette, I personally did not participate!
I remember all my teachers :
First Grade Miss Steiger - I had a crush on her.
Second Grade Mrs McLaughlin
Third Grade Mrs Fill
Fourth Grade Mr Pularski - He threw chalkboard erasers at people who were talking.
Fifth Grade Mrs Ceraso
Sixth Grade Mrs Reese
Our principals were Sr Bernadette and Sr Martian
We attended Mass every morning. The first couple of years it was in Latin. I think in third grade it was changed to English. I became an altar server in Fifth Grade. Our pastor, Msgr Luke, was pretty intimidating. I remember being really nervous the first time that I served for him. He had been the pastor for a long time. He is responsible for building most of the beautiful complex including the swimming pool which was located below the church. He liked to swim so there was stairwell from the rectory down to gym/swimming pool. The complex takes up a whole city block. I still remember the powerful liturgies with the full choir, incense, candles, vestments, and processions. I learned the majesty of God.
I started playing baseball in T-ball. I had several embarrassing moments playing baseball. First, I struck out in T-ball. What?? Yes! Second, our field for playing T ball was Forest Glen School, and it had a forest of trees beyond left field. One game, I am playing left field, and someone hit the ball into the trees. I went racing after it. I get it and twirl around. I threw the ball as hard as I could back to the infield. The ball hits a tree and ricochets back at me nearly hitting me in the face. Whew!! It was close!! Third, my parents could never come to my games because the store was always open. I road my bike to all my games. We had a game get rained out and they rescheduled the game for a Sunday afternoon. So, my parents can actually attend a game. I am playing right field and an easy fly ball is hit to me. I don't even have to move. The ball goes right over the top of my glove and hits me in the face. It was pretty embarrassing! I was actually pretty decent at playing baseball. I was on several all star teams, but it is a game of failure. It will humble you very quickly.
Because my parents owned this shoe repair shop, and it was open six days a week, I spent a lot of time hanging around the store. Of course, I would wander off and check out stuff happening around town. One of my favorite places to hang out was Mr Walker's wood working shop which was right behind my parent's store. He made all sorts of things from kitchen tables to rocking chairs to cabinets. It was fascinating and I loved the smell of freshly cut wood. He made our kitchen cabinets, and refinished our kitchen table.
Another place that I spent a lot of time hanging around was the Chicago Daily News Office which was next to Mr Walker's shop. Ted was the long time manager until the Daily News stopped publishing in 1978. I eventually had my own paper route, but until then I enjoyed helping deliver missed papers. I helped clean around the office. I also helped unload the bundles of newspapers from the truck. I love the smell of newspapers. I loved delivering them. In fact, years later while being a full time Youth Minister, I delivered newspapers for the Chicago Tribune to make extra money. I loved standing on the sidewalk and lofting the newspapers in the air while having them land on the porch. Of course, there were a few times where the paper went off course, but I never broke a window just made a bunch noise at 6 am.
Craziest story delivering newspapers happened by Wheaton College. It was about 6 am. There are apartment buildings that face each other with a courtyard in the middle. I would park my car in the street. I would run up one sidewalk dropping papers as I went. Then cross the courtyard and deliver to the next building. Then, I would run out to my car. One dark winter morning, there is a female college student walking down the sidewalk. While racing out to my car, I practically ran her over. She thought I was attacking her. She dropped her backpack and ran away as fast as she could. I tried tell her that I was just delivering newspapers, but she just kept running. It was crazy!?!
Another place that I spent time hanging around was the pharmacy a couple doors from my parents. I had a "girl friend". Her name was Ann, and she was the lady who took care of customers. Over the years, I bought a lot of candy from her. Next to the pharmacy was a pretzel shop that made those huge salty soft pretzels. There is nothing better than a hot pretzel with mustard or cheddar cheese. Next to the pretzel shop was a candy store that sold white chocolate that was to die for. On the corner of Pennsylvania and Main street was a bakery that sold half dollar sized cookies with a drop of icing on top. They just melted in your mouth. A couple blocks up the street was Webb pharmacy with a soda fountain where you choose different flavors. Ok! Ok! Yes ! I liked to eat!
My all time favorite part of my grade school years was our family trips to Flint Michigan to visit our Herwaldt cousins. My father was a convert to the Catholic faith. His father was a German who emigrated from Russia. They lived in a Protestant German neighborhood in a western suburb of Chicago. Seven boys and one girl. Two of the brothers moved to a German neighborhood in Flint. One worked at the GM plant and one owned a shoe repair shop like my father. They were faith filled loving men who married awesome women. My cousins are fun interesting people. We always had a blast hanging with them whether we were playing touch football or Bloody Murder. We would always have these huge meals in the garage because that was the only place that could hold nineteen cousins plus adults. Or, we would have picnics at Flushing Park. Now, we have reunions every three years at Christian camps in Michigan. I find the reunions to be more like a spiritual retreat. For me, it is powerful to be around faith filled Christians. My uncle who moved to Wisconsin was a pastor. I loved listening to him preach. My cousin Fred was a Reformed Pastor. He was a thoughtful person who always was looking for more and to go deeper in his relationship with God. Several of my cousins married pastors. My Flint cousins know how to sing worship. The preaching and singing then the discussions over food or by the fire pit were just completely inspiring. Three of my cousins and their wives have become Catholic.
The most difficult and most amazing thing that happened to me was a blockage in my urinary track. It happened slowly over time. I started having more and more pain on my right side. I, at one point, would be doubled over in pain. My mom took me to a specialist at Children Memorial Hospital in Chicago. They put me on an experimental medication that they had little hope in helping. The only alternative would be surgery. Surgery in that area is always a risk because of infection. I was only in grade school so I was pretty scared. It was a pretty humiliating experience as well. I had to go through many tests where I had to pee on command. I had to have many catheters inserted. The whole experience was painful and scary. Eventually, surgery was scheduled at the hospital in Chicago. They prepped me for surgery and put me to sleep. Before they started the surgery, they did one more test. Miraculously, the blockage was gone!! The doctors were dumbfounded. I believe God healed me.
As a family, our favorite place to go out for food was Don & Angie's Restaurant. They had great thin crust pizza and Italian food. Don and Angie were great people and friends of my parents. I never or rarely saw other customers in the restaurant area. Don talked and looked like he was in the Italian mob. In the back of my head, I always wondered. Interestingly enough, in early days of Saturday Night Live, the restaurant was highlighted in one of SNL's fake commercials. One night, we went there for a late dinner after the store closed. It was Black Friday. Glen Ellyn had a Christmas Walk. It was a night where all the stores stayed open late and served cookies, finger foods and punch. My parents served spiked and regular punch. I think I had several cups of spiked punch. By the time we got to the restaurant, I was feeling light headed and sick to my stomach. I think I was a little tipsy.
My parents store was only a couple of blocks from St Petronille School so I had to walk to the store during lunch and recess. I always thought it was a little bit of a rip off. I got less recess time, and it seemed like some of the best stories happened while I was gone. St. Petronille had a pool so we had swimming several times a week. There was all sorts of hyjinks going on while changing our clothes from towel stealing to towel snapping to giving someone a wedgy to pulling someone's swimsuit down. If you talk to Sr Bernadette, I personally did not participate!
I remember all my teachers :
First Grade Miss Steiger - I had a crush on her.
Second Grade Mrs McLaughlin
Third Grade Mrs Fill
Fourth Grade Mr Pularski - He threw chalkboard erasers at people who were talking.
Fifth Grade Mrs Ceraso
Sixth Grade Mrs Reese
Our principals were Sr Bernadette and Sr Martian
We attended Mass every morning. The first couple of years it was in Latin. I think in third grade it was changed to English. I became an altar server in Fifth Grade. Our pastor, Msgr Luke, was pretty intimidating. I remember being really nervous the first time that I served for him. He had been the pastor for a long time. He is responsible for building most of the beautiful complex including the swimming pool which was located below the church. He liked to swim so there was stairwell from the rectory down to gym/swimming pool. The complex takes up a whole city block. I still remember the powerful liturgies with the full choir, incense, candles, vestments, and processions. I learned the majesty of God.
I started playing baseball in T-ball. I had several embarrassing moments playing baseball. First, I struck out in T-ball. What?? Yes! Second, our field for playing T ball was Forest Glen School, and it had a forest of trees beyond left field. One game, I am playing left field, and someone hit the ball into the trees. I went racing after it. I get it and twirl around. I threw the ball as hard as I could back to the infield. The ball hits a tree and ricochets back at me nearly hitting me in the face. Whew!! It was close!! Third, my parents could never come to my games because the store was always open. I road my bike to all my games. We had a game get rained out and they rescheduled the game for a Sunday afternoon. So, my parents can actually attend a game. I am playing right field and an easy fly ball is hit to me. I don't even have to move. The ball goes right over the top of my glove and hits me in the face. It was pretty embarrassing! I was actually pretty decent at playing baseball. I was on several all star teams, but it is a game of failure. It will humble you very quickly.
Because my parents owned this shoe repair shop, and it was open six days a week, I spent a lot of time hanging around the store. Of course, I would wander off and check out stuff happening around town. One of my favorite places to hang out was Mr Walker's wood working shop which was right behind my parent's store. He made all sorts of things from kitchen tables to rocking chairs to cabinets. It was fascinating and I loved the smell of freshly cut wood. He made our kitchen cabinets, and refinished our kitchen table.
Another place that I spent a lot of time hanging around was the Chicago Daily News Office which was next to Mr Walker's shop. Ted was the long time manager until the Daily News stopped publishing in 1978. I eventually had my own paper route, but until then I enjoyed helping deliver missed papers. I helped clean around the office. I also helped unload the bundles of newspapers from the truck. I love the smell of newspapers. I loved delivering them. In fact, years later while being a full time Youth Minister, I delivered newspapers for the Chicago Tribune to make extra money. I loved standing on the sidewalk and lofting the newspapers in the air while having them land on the porch. Of course, there were a few times where the paper went off course, but I never broke a window just made a bunch noise at 6 am.
Craziest story delivering newspapers happened by Wheaton College. It was about 6 am. There are apartment buildings that face each other with a courtyard in the middle. I would park my car in the street. I would run up one sidewalk dropping papers as I went. Then cross the courtyard and deliver to the next building. Then, I would run out to my car. One dark winter morning, there is a female college student walking down the sidewalk. While racing out to my car, I practically ran her over. She thought I was attacking her. She dropped her backpack and ran away as fast as she could. I tried tell her that I was just delivering newspapers, but she just kept running. It was crazy!?!
Another place that I spent time hanging around was the pharmacy a couple doors from my parents. I had a "girl friend". Her name was Ann, and she was the lady who took care of customers. Over the years, I bought a lot of candy from her. Next to the pharmacy was a pretzel shop that made those huge salty soft pretzels. There is nothing better than a hot pretzel with mustard or cheddar cheese. Next to the pretzel shop was a candy store that sold white chocolate that was to die for. On the corner of Pennsylvania and Main street was a bakery that sold half dollar sized cookies with a drop of icing on top. They just melted in your mouth. A couple blocks up the street was Webb pharmacy with a soda fountain where you choose different flavors. Ok! Ok! Yes ! I liked to eat!
My all time favorite part of my grade school years was our family trips to Flint Michigan to visit our Herwaldt cousins. My father was a convert to the Catholic faith. His father was a German who emigrated from Russia. They lived in a Protestant German neighborhood in a western suburb of Chicago. Seven boys and one girl. Two of the brothers moved to a German neighborhood in Flint. One worked at the GM plant and one owned a shoe repair shop like my father. They were faith filled loving men who married awesome women. My cousins are fun interesting people. We always had a blast hanging with them whether we were playing touch football or Bloody Murder. We would always have these huge meals in the garage because that was the only place that could hold nineteen cousins plus adults. Or, we would have picnics at Flushing Park. Now, we have reunions every three years at Christian camps in Michigan. I find the reunions to be more like a spiritual retreat. For me, it is powerful to be around faith filled Christians. My uncle who moved to Wisconsin was a pastor. I loved listening to him preach. My cousin Fred was a Reformed Pastor. He was a thoughtful person who always was looking for more and to go deeper in his relationship with God. Several of my cousins married pastors. My Flint cousins know how to sing worship. The preaching and singing then the discussions over food or by the fire pit were just completely inspiring. Three of my cousins and their wives have become Catholic.
The most difficult and most amazing thing that happened to me was a blockage in my urinary track. It happened slowly over time. I started having more and more pain on my right side. I, at one point, would be doubled over in pain. My mom took me to a specialist at Children Memorial Hospital in Chicago. They put me on an experimental medication that they had little hope in helping. The only alternative would be surgery. Surgery in that area is always a risk because of infection. I was only in grade school so I was pretty scared. It was a pretty humiliating experience as well. I had to go through many tests where I had to pee on command. I had to have many catheters inserted. The whole experience was painful and scary. Eventually, surgery was scheduled at the hospital in Chicago. They prepped me for surgery and put me to sleep. Before they started the surgery, they did one more test. Miraculously, the blockage was gone!! The doctors were dumbfounded. I believe God healed me.
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