On the run from the nuns?

I attended Catholic School from kindergarten through high school. I also lived across the street from my grammar school, the rectory and the convent. The nuns scared me to death. I didn't think they were real people, didn't think they ate, went to the bathroom, slept, they just didn't seem human to me. I mean I lived right across the street from them and never saw them coming in or out of the convent, buying food in the stores, only saw them in the school and school yard.

Their habits were long flowing white gowns with their black rosary beads hanging down, and all you could see were their faces, no hair, and black shoes, even the shoes scared me!!
When I first started school we had mostly nuns, I think my first "lay" teacher was in third grade, one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. McVay, she's the one who read us the book "Charlie Brown and the Chocolate Factory". She could be really tough, but I mostly remember her being very sweet.

I don't really remember kindergarten but I do remember first grade. I had a very mean nun, I can't even remember her name, I'll just call her Sister Meany. She really was the one who started my fear of nuns. I remember being in the school yard lining up to go into the school building and a girl on line fainted, first time I ever saw anyone faint, she just went right out on the concrete and hit her head really hard. Sister Meany picked her up like she was a sack of potatoes, just threw her over her shoulder. I didn't know where she was bringing her, but I was afraid for the girl, I didn't think that Sister Meany was trying to help her. I think I wanted to run home right that minute, I was so afraid, what if I fainted, where would she take me!!??

I got left back, they said I was too young and it would be better for me to repeat first grade. But I know it was because of Sister Meany! She hit me, constantly hit a ruler across my knuckles, made me sit in a garbage pail, and I faced the back of the classroom most of the year. I was only 5 and 6 years old in 1st grade, I really don't know what I could have done to make her so angry. As I got older I was always asked by my teacher if I was related to my brothers and would say, yes sister, but I'm not like them sister. But I don't think Sister Meany met my brothers yet, we had just moved back to Brooklyn when I started school and they were already in higher grades. She just didn't like me. And I never pulled any stunts in grammar school, I was too afraid of what they would do. Even if I went home and told my parents that she hit me, they would believe I deserved it and I would probably get in trouble at home too. It's just the way it was then. As I moved up in grades I had some really nice nuns, but still quite a few that scared me, some of the lay teachers scared me too. In second grade I had a very sweet nun, Sr. Helena, and I think it was the first time I had an inkling that nuns were indeed human beings!

I do know that Sister Meany eventually was moved up to teach the higher grades, maybe 8th grade, I don't know, but she got her comeuppance! One student, and I think she was my brother Bob's girlfriend at the time, Barbara? Well Sister Meany hit her and she slapped Sister Meany right back. I think the whole class cheered. She was gone by the time I was in 6th grade, don't know what happened to her but I'm sure she pushed it too far with someone at one point, but thank goodness I didn't have to meet up with her again!

But I did have a crazy, sick nun when I was in 8th grade. Sister Vivian. Still wearing her old fashioned habit and I guess she had had a stroke and couldn't move one side of her mouth. She was very strange. She would call boys up to her desk and tell them to look at one of the girls in the class that had her legs crossed (forbidden!) and she would point out to them how much you could see when a girl sat like that. Creepy! She also was constantly reminding all the girls in the class to never wear patent leather shoes, that boys would see our underwear. I wonder now what was going on with Sister Vivian? Was she a sexual pervert? We just laughed at her and then she would ask if you if you were laughing at her lip, which made you laugh more and she would go on and on about how disrespectful it was to be laughing at her, all the while just making you laugh more.

By high school all the nuns were much nicer and I could not believe how cool some of them were. No more were they hidden behind those long white gowns, not showing their hair. It was a new time. There were still some old fashioned nuns around, still in their long habits, not showing their hair and wearing those scary black shoes, but I do remember them being so kind, nothing like the nuns in grammar school.

In high school for the most part, the nuns that taught at my school couldn't have been cooler and outside of getting in trouble for one of my stunts, they were very nice, good women. The discipline of course had changed by this time, no more hitting students, though I'm sure it still went on somewhat during the time I attended in high school since even Sister Kathleen did strangle me, just a little, I knew she wasn't going to kill me! Sister Kathleen was the coolest! I think everyone thought so and loved her. She could be stern, as I said she did strangle me (a little) but she was fun and I remember watching her pray one day during our senior retreat. I was in trouble for something and had to sit next to her in church to keep me out of trouble. As I watched her, I just knew that she was the real deal as far as her faith was concerned. She truly had a calling. In all my years of Catholic school, that moment changed me, I envied her faith and still search for that peace I saw watching Sister Kathleen pray.

And God bless them they put up with our antics. My friend Linda and lots of other fun, nutty girls too, we drove them crazy. One of Linda's and my usual stunts was turning off the power switches in the main electric box, which was located right outside the office. We did it tons of times. Just had our exit set, got ready to run and switched them off. We did it once in front a good student, president of student council at the time, great girl, also really cool, we knew she wouldn't tell on us. She was looking at us before we did it, like come on, not while I'm standing here, but we just couldn't help ourselves! They knew it was us but never caught us red handed. I would have loved to see them come running out of the office trying to catch us, but we were always one step ahead of them, on the run from the nuns!

This past weekend the graduating class before mine, the Class of 76, had their 35 year reunion! The girls posted some pictures on Facebook and it's so wild looking at these women and seeing their teenage faces still there. They also showed a video of the girls (women now) singing our school song. I remember thinking it was so dorky when I was in school but hearing these women 35 years after graduating from our school singing the song, it touched my heart.

Three of the girls I attended high school (I think 2 of them from the Class of 76) are now sisters and I was good friends with them in high school, especially one of them who was in glee club with me. The three women were silly teenage girls, funny, kind, real people and they also have a special calling. I wonder what their students think of them now? Do they see what I saw in them?

I hope so.

For me, no more on the run from the nuns!