The Awakening
I remember my first feeling of boy-girl love quite clearly. This wonderful, joy-filled feeling took place on the playground connected to my elementary school, PS 76 in the East New York section of Brooklyn. I was very young , having started elementary school in September 1949 when I was only 4 and a half years old, and I was in that marvelous place of life we know as Kindergarten. I don’t even remember his name but I remember that feeling. I have a vague recollection of his sweetness and I remember the attention he gave me even though the details are a blur. I remember standing in a circle on the concrete, next to the high, chain link fence that kept us safely within our prescribed boundaries. We were playing a game where you held hands with the people on either side of you and then you raised your arms together as one of the kids ran and in and out of the circle through your raised arms as you sang, “Blue Bird 🐦, Blue Bird 🐦 through my window, Blue Bird 🐦 through my window, Oh Johnny I am tired. Take a little girl and tap her on the shoulder, take a little girl and tap her on the shoulder, Oh Johnny I am tired . “. I remember he smiled sheepishly, although at the time I wouldn’t have been able to use that word. Now, looking back, that word describes his smile perfectly. And, I remember he kept taping me on my shoulder so I could run in and out of the circle over and over again. It was fun to run around as the kids sang together. and, I liked being chosen so many times; it made me feel special.
He cared for me! I don’t remember if we played this game often or just that one time, but I remember that wonderful feeling over all these 70 years.
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