When I was little my street was dirty and full of very odd people.
There were guitar players at night who sat on the sidewalk stoop playing Spainish music.
An old warehouse sat in the middle of our block and cats who ate rats ran around there and begged me for bologna.
We had an old man named Mr. Miller who was finicky about his lawn and made us kids do poems for him to get a Halloween trick or treat.
People often fought on my street over race or stupidity.
Old Nelly lived accross the street and had a gazillion kids. She gave them baths in a kids swimming pool in the summer and her kids had strange names like Tippy and Sonny.
We still had fun despite all the slum around us.
As a matter of fact, I never knew I lived in a slum and I guess that is because I was very well loved and also my granma owned the local grocery store.
Yes I got penny candy and free visits on the candy mans truck with my dad when he came to bring supplies to our store.
There were little rides on semi trailer trucks that came around to all the neighborhoods and my dad often talked with the operator of the ride so long I often got to have free rides.
My favorite was THE WHIP, a little car you sat in and whirled you around a track.
There was a merry go round and a little ferris wheel too.
My friends and I spent our days making potholders,cutting out paper dolls,and putting on plays on the woodpile in the backyard.
We would hang up worms on clotheslines and give ants funerals,carrying them in little matchboxes to their burial grounds.
Sometimes when it rained we all went out in our bathing suits and ran un the rain!!
Most days we were out from morning till night,only coming in for lunch.
We roller skated on metal skates which used a key to tighten them onto your feet.
I never knew for one minute that I lived in a slum
One day when my friend came to my house for lunch we were washing our hands and she said,"Hey,my hands are not as clean as yours."
So we asked my granma why her hands stayed brown and that is when I learned some people are brown and some peachy and some other colors.Granma said is how God made us so we are like a rainbow.
I was about four when that happened....
My Dad would pile a lot of us in his old Pontiac and drive us to the lake or the ocean on saturdays.He was the best Dad ever.
Each night he would tell me story after story,some of them he made up for me.
He was a great artist and made me Disney characters on wood which were hung in my room
Mom had a soprano voice as high as opera ladies and sang in the church choir. She cooked the best pirogis,stuffed cabbage and baked goods you ever tasted. People from everywhere loved her cooking and her food was a hit at all church functions.
One thing we learned young was how blessed we were to live in a free country. My Dad fought in the war and had some experiences there that led him to become a man who saw much but still never blamed anyone or God for anything.
I was so proud of him.
We studied Ukrainian at school and were taught by nuns.
I began a girls club in our school when I was in fifth grade and discovered I liked leading groups and encouraging others.
School was okay but I do not remember a lot from it except for geography which I loved.
Each morning we said the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE and sand our national anthem,
We prayed before class and after class.
Whe ever a priest or any adult walked into our class we said in Ukrainian,"Blessed be the name of Jesus"(slava e sue sue christu)

Our first communion was big and exciting,I got a white dress with a little purse and a prayer book.
Then I sat on my pirse and screamed"Ouch!!" well, it really hurt!!!!
The ladies in the lunchroom made me eat canned green beans even when i threw them up.I hated GREEN BEANS.
SO i LEARNED TO HIDE THEM IN MY MILK CARTON WHEN THE NUNS WERE NOT LOOKING AND I THREW THEM AWAY,
My friends and I would walk home from school together and stop at a store for gum or candy.
I got bit by a neighbors dog once when I was petting him
On Friday nights we would all go to Rutt's Hut for greasy fries and burgers.
Rutts Hut still is open today!!!!
Granma made great meals too and she cooked from scratch ,oh her apple pies were so good.She never had a cookbook for she head to learn to cook and clean at eight years old.
Her Mom died and they lived on a farm so in those days the older kids helped out.
She raised a brother and two sisters at eight and she said boy she cried a lot at first.
But she got through it all an became a very good cook and fun Granma for me.
Once she told me she saw a ghost and boy I did not sleep that night!!!
I used to spit a lot cause it spooked the tough kids so they did not beat me up.
They called me "SPITSIN"
Once I did a bad thing and stole money from a school raffle,42 cents.
I went to the corner store and bought a soda,candy and paper dolls.
Then I felt awful,confessed to my dad, he forgave me but he told me I needed To work for the money and say sorry to God.
Sometimes we would bang on pots at midnight outside on New Years Day.
On the Fourth of July we had a parade that came up my street and we shot off fireworks and sparklers.
When I was in kindergarten I peed my pants and the nun sat me on the radiator to dry out.
Every Saturday night my aunt would curl my hair and my mom would iron my dress for church.
We had a big Saturday routine of preparing for church making sure all was done and our food was ready for the next day.
Once I fainted in church cause we never ate breakfast so we could take communion. You had to fast every time you took communion.
Because I was Catholic we had to go to what is called CONFESSION. This you did by going in a little booth and kneeling on a little stool.
There was a priest in there but you could not see him becase they hid him behind the screen,kind of like the wizard in Oz.
You had to tell him all your sins and the he would decide how many Our Fathers, Hail Marys you had to say in order to be forgiven.
I guess I will finish this now and continue more another time.