I went to a Diocesan High School, one of the five brand new ones built to accommodate the vast numbers of Baby Boomers who were entering into secondary education. (Remember there were 82 kids in my first grade class.)
The Brooklyn Diocese had a system of giving parishes alternate years to have their students enroll in each of the new high schools. My 8th-grade class of 1963 was assigned to Bishop Reilly, but my new Parish, St. Anastasia, had their class of 1962 assigned.
We were a large school, and it was being filled class by class, and even though at that time there were only two grades in Bishop Reilly, I was part of the second group to enter, which was the class of '67, and I didn’t know a single person in the class of ’66.
So, there were no freshmen from Douglaston in my class; anyone from there was a sophomore, and they were now Juniors when I was a sophomore.
We were a large school, and it was being filled class by class, and even though at that time there were only two grades in Bishop Reilly, I was part of the second group to enter, which was the class of '67, and I didn’t know a single person in the class of ’66.
So, there were no freshmen from Douglaston in my class; anyone from there was a sophomore, and they were now Juniors when I was a sophomore.
I also knew only one way to get there by bus. I walked about a mile to a stop near the LI Expressway and caught the Q17A. It dropped me right across the street from BRHS (in snow and rain and ice storms…not really; it was only the first couple of days of school that I walked that far) One day as I was crossing to begin my trek to the bus, a girl in the same uniform as I wore stopped me and asked where I was going. I told her, and she said, “Why don’t you come with us? We take the Q12 to the Q76 (which also dropped off by the school.) She was my very first friend in Douglaston, and we are still in touch today.
She introduced me around, and we were all best buds in no time (The expression BFF was only a glint in the eye of Mark Zuckerberg at that time...actually, he wasn't even a glint since HIS parents weren't even born yet, either.) Every morning we’d meet at Mr. Klein’s candy store by the bus stop and climb aboard together. I couldn't start the day without eating a dark chocolate candy bar. (I didn't drink coffee.) It wasn't an issue since I was all of about 100 pounds...now my left leg weighs 100 pounds.
We went to parties and CYO dances (Catholic Youth Organization). Just a big group of boys and girls; all friends…no one had a boyfriend or a girlfriend at that point. We had more of a herd mentality.
There were some things we really liked to do...one was go to the Worlds' Fair in Flushing. It was an exciting place to be! We got to see the Pieta, on loan from Rome, Disney's "It's a Small World" and sampled foods from around the world. Who knew there were other exotic things to eat that came from Europe besides pizza?
Our ever-growing circle of friends included people from other neighborhoods and schools...we always met under "Africa" at the Unisphere.
She introduced me around, and we were all best buds in no time (The expression BFF was only a glint in the eye of Mark Zuckerberg at that time...actually, he wasn't even a glint since HIS parents weren't even born yet, either.) Every morning we’d meet at Mr. Klein’s candy store by the bus stop and climb aboard together. I couldn't start the day without eating a dark chocolate candy bar. (I didn't drink coffee.) It wasn't an issue since I was all of about 100 pounds...now my left leg weighs 100 pounds.
We went to parties and CYO dances (Catholic Youth Organization). Just a big group of boys and girls; all friends…no one had a boyfriend or a girlfriend at that point. We had more of a herd mentality.
There were some things we really liked to do...one was go to the Worlds' Fair in Flushing. It was an exciting place to be! We got to see the Pieta, on loan from Rome, Disney's "It's a Small World" and sampled foods from around the world. Who knew there were other exotic things to eat that came from Europe besides pizza?
Our ever-growing circle of friends included people from other neighborhoods and schools...we always met under "Africa" at the Unisphere.
Sometimes I think about the "GE Carousel of Progress" that was so popular at the Fair. It took visitors through various stages of inventions, and the last scene was "The Future." We were all wowed by the idea of being able to do our shopping through TV and talking on portable phones that you could take anywhere...and never thought we'd actually be LIVING in that last scene!?
Another outing that was a lot of fun was to go to Shea Stadium to see the Mets play. It was only a couple of subway stops from downtown Flushing. They were terrible, but we loved them because they were OUR team. We'd been abandoned by both the Giants and Dodgers, so this new and struggling team became our favorite. Little known fact: the Mets orange and blue logo was a combination of the orange that was part of the Giants' color scheme and the blue is "Dodgers blue."
What was NOT to love about Casey Stengel, the manager? I remember being at a game where he took off his hat after the National Anthem and birds flew out.
What was NOT to love about Casey Stengel, the manager? I remember being at a game where he took off his hat after the National Anthem and birds flew out.
St. Patrick's Day was a huge deal to all of us.
We had the day off from school (I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe because the Bishops and the Cardinal were Irish?) We'd all meet under the clock in Flushing and there were enough of us to fill up an entire subway car. There were always fist fights, break ups, vomiting of green beer and tears as we roamed Fifth Avenue and never really watched the parade.
Speaking of green beer, it was legal to drink at 18 in NY then and if you weren't 18, you had "fake proof" (of age) so you could buy something or you had an older brother who'd get it for you. If you were REALLY lucky you might have an older brother or sister who closely resembled you and sometimes you could borrow that.
I did not have the map of Ireland on my face by any means (pure Italian!) but my "fake proof " (of age) was Annie O'Donoghue. When asked, I would say "I'm black irish."
Getting this fake “proof” was not difficult. The boys who served as altar boys would steal baptismal certificates from the priest’s desk; we’d fill them in and rub them across something embossed to make it look like it had a seal. My high school yearbook’s inlaid logo on the cover was perfect for this!
We had the day off from school (I'm not exactly sure why, but maybe because the Bishops and the Cardinal were Irish?) We'd all meet under the clock in Flushing and there were enough of us to fill up an entire subway car. There were always fist fights, break ups, vomiting of green beer and tears as we roamed Fifth Avenue and never really watched the parade.
Speaking of green beer, it was legal to drink at 18 in NY then and if you weren't 18, you had "fake proof" (of age) so you could buy something or you had an older brother who'd get it for you. If you were REALLY lucky you might have an older brother or sister who closely resembled you and sometimes you could borrow that.
I did not have the map of Ireland on my face by any means (pure Italian!) but my "fake proof " (of age) was Annie O'Donoghue. When asked, I would say "I'm black irish."
Getting this fake “proof” was not difficult. The boys who served as altar boys would steal baptismal certificates from the priest’s desk; we’d fill them in and rub them across something embossed to make it look like it had a seal. My high school yearbook’s inlaid logo on the cover was perfect for this!
One of my favorite stories about fake proof involved my best friend (who is still my BFF some 50 + years now!)
We were out on a Friday night, probably having told our parents we were at the high school basketball game. Instead, we went to a local college bar near St. John’s University, where some of our older friends were now enrolled. Everyone had to line up at the door to show their ID’s, proving they were 18 and allowed to enter, even if you weren’t going to drink.
I had no problem being “Annie” that night, but my friend, who was behind me, must have looked nervous. We always memorized our birthdate on the proof and other pertinent information that they sometimes would ask. It might be, “What church were you baptized?” (that was easy since the stolen baptismal certificates had it printed on them!)
This particular bouncer asked my BFF who her godmother was. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She took a breath and said, “Carole!” The bouncer then said, “Nice try. Go home. It was Cecelia.” My friend looked at this guy and blurted out, “I KNEW it began with a ‘C’!”
We were out on a Friday night, probably having told our parents we were at the high school basketball game. Instead, we went to a local college bar near St. John’s University, where some of our older friends were now enrolled. Everyone had to line up at the door to show their ID’s, proving they were 18 and allowed to enter, even if you weren’t going to drink.
I had no problem being “Annie” that night, but my friend, who was behind me, must have looked nervous. We always memorized our birthdate on the proof and other pertinent information that they sometimes would ask. It might be, “What church were you baptized?” (that was easy since the stolen baptismal certificates had it printed on them!)
This particular bouncer asked my BFF who her godmother was. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights. She took a breath and said, “Carole!” The bouncer then said, “Nice try. Go home. It was Cecelia.” My friend looked at this guy and blurted out, “I KNEW it began with a ‘C’!”
One Sunday afternoon in November, we heard that there were a bunch of the guys trying out this new thing, skateboards at a local "hill." A group of us went over, and that’s when I met my first serious boyfriend.
He was the third child of six, a year older than me, and his Mom was expecting number 7 in December. After a couple of months, I realized I was in love for the first time in my life, and the beautiful thing was that it was reciprocated.
We didn’t “go steady” mainly because my parents would have had a fit. They liked the boyfriend, but they thought I was too young just to have one “man” in my life.
That relationship lasted through the rest of high school and into my sophomore year in college, for a total of five years. We had wonderful times with our group of friends, going to proms and parties, long days at his family’s summer house in Long Beach, winter weekends in college. We even got “pinned” halfway through sophomore year. There’s more to this story, but I’ll give the details in the next section: “College.”
He was the third child of six, a year older than me, and his Mom was expecting number 7 in December. After a couple of months, I realized I was in love for the first time in my life, and the beautiful thing was that it was reciprocated.
We didn’t “go steady” mainly because my parents would have had a fit. They liked the boyfriend, but they thought I was too young just to have one “man” in my life.
That relationship lasted through the rest of high school and into my sophomore year in college, for a total of five years. We had wonderful times with our group of friends, going to proms and parties, long days at his family’s summer house in Long Beach, winter weekends in college. We even got “pinned” halfway through sophomore year. There’s more to this story, but I’ll give the details in the next section: “College.”