50 years ago- More Reflections on High School and Beyond

I remember these things:

• laughing like crazy during physics lab classes with my brilliant physics partner, Alice Marcel.   Understanding next to nothing in Chemistry Class (how the heck did I become a nurse?)
• parties with boys in basements with Nancy Scheper, (Mary) Lynn Corwin, Kathy Detweiler, Sue Bellamacino, etc.  
• praying by a little homemade altar on a school desk as a bona fide member of Sr. Michael’s Legion of Mary and then traveling by subway to the dreaded “bowels “of Brooklyn to feed the babies at St. Mary’s Hospital.   I loved feeding those babies and went on to be a Pediatric Nurse.
• Eating linguine and clam sauce in a fancy-dancy, air-conditioned room - with a waterfall no less- at Mama Leoni’s the day they put an OLWA ring on my finger.
• tagging along with Linda Giarratano when her boyfriend, Tommy Ryan, picked her up in a real live automobile at the end of the school day.  Being amazed at their young love and true commitment and at Linda’s faithfulness to one man.
• discussions regarding how long you could kiss a boy before it crossed over the line from a venial to a mortal sin!
•  the immense fanfare that accompanied our school elections.   I admired all the class officers and wished I were more like them.
• attending our commencement dance, An Evening in Paris, on Friday evening, May 4^th 1962, in the auditorium of St. Mary Gate of Heaven school.   
•  holding a bouquet of roses in my arm as I walked down the aisle on graduation day at St. Mary Gate of Heaven.  
• being insulted when I was told by my Guidance Counselor that I’d be better going to a smaller nursing school.  Listening instead to my Mom, and saying “yes” to my invitation to attend St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing (SVH) on West 12^th Street in Manhattan.   My Mom was right! This turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.

So where have I been since June 1962

• I worked in Pediatrics (SVH, Jamaica Hospital) and was then involved in establishing the Pediatric Specialty Clinics at Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.   I discovered that the “ bowels” of Brooklyn weren’t too bad after all.
• After kissing a lot of frogs (venially only, of course!), I met and married (9-18-71) the man God found for me (that is a too long a story for this venue).   
• Wanting to avoid the rat race of commuting from Long Island to jobs in NYC, Bob and I moved from Ridgewood, Queens to the countryside surrounding Binghamton, NY, on March 9^th, 1975, my 30^th birthday.
• Sadly, this Pediatric Nurse/Lover of Babies never got pregnant but happily we were blessed with two children anyway.    I met our son’s Birth Mom in Johnson City, NY when I worked at Wilson Memorial Hospital there.   Brian was born in Johnson City on Sept 10, 1076 and Bob and I took him from the hospital to our new apartment in Albany, NY.    Bob had gotten a job offer in the Capital District as an Accountant with NYS Department of Social Services.  Two years later we adopted our little redhead girl through Albany County.   Diane was born Nov. 6^th 1978 and came to her home with us on May 11^th 1979 (another long story). 
•  In the early 70’s while still living in Queens, I went back to school and obtained a Bachelor’s degree from St. Francis College in Brooklyn. 
• When my kids were small I started craving intellectual stimulation and some activities outside of the house and so I decided to take a course or two at Russell Sage College in Troy, NY.  This eventually led me to an M.S. in Health Education.
• For awhile I worked in an Administrative Position with the NYS Department of Health Early Intervention Program here in Albany, NY.    I was not happy doing this type of work however, it was at this job that I learned to turn on a computer and move a mouse.    Now I create and present the Power Point presentations at our weekend liturgies in our parish church, Christ Our Light.    I love all creative aspects of the computer and wish I had a live-in Instructor. 
• I ended my active nursing career (I say “active career” because isn’t a nurse always a nurse?) in a totally different area of nursing – the NYS Nursing Home Complaint Hotline.  .  Oh the stories I heard!  I could have made a fortune if I had the stomach to write a book entitled, “365 Days on the Nursing Home Complaint Hotline”.  
• Our grandson, Connor Patrick Buchner, born on 05-05-05 is a true Gift from God and we enjoy every single moment that we spend with him.  
• It is amazing to be on this side of life so quickly.  I wouldn’t have believed it even if someone had tried to explain it to me way back when.    I sure hope we get together again in another 50 years.

More Facts from Poppi

I spoke with my father today and he said that the Interboro Parkway was completed in the Spring of 1937 and the reason he knows the date so well is because he was doing work for his college graduation (Brooklyn College - Class of 1937) and he heard the constant construction work on the Parkway in front of his house.
He also told me that the street was initially named North Vermont Street before it was changed to 8 Vermont Avenue which by the way was the address he placed on his school papers during his years at St. Michael's Elementary School (East NY Brooklyn) and Bushwich High School.  Poppi said that although he was born in the house at 8 Vermont Ave (later 62 Interboro Pkwy now Jackie Robinson Pkwy) he was technically born in Queens because the border between Queens and Brooklyn was eventually changed - the border line between Brooklyn and Queens ran right down the middle of the Street in front of our home.  If, when there was an accident on the Interboro Parkway, we called the Brooklyn Police, they would direct us to call the Queens Police since the Highway was in Queens.  When Poppi was a little boy he would see herds of cows and other animals parading/herded down the middle of his street (he thinks that they might have been on the way to the slaughterhouse).   It is hard for me to imagine that area being so much "in the country|".  Poppi's father, Joseph Fries, taught Poppi how to drive in Highland Park (up the street from our home) because at the time you were able to drive on the walking paths.  Poppi also remembers that there was a type of house/bandstand in the middle of the park where people would sit in chairs and listen to bands playing.  The band would be one story up so they could be more easily seen.  There was also a special Memorial site honoring World War I veterans (He is not sure if this is still there).

50 years since graduation - Reflections on High School

I was one of two 8^th Graders who made the Diocesan HS, Bishop McDonald’s, but choose to go to Our Lady of Wisdom Academy instead for a couple of reasons.  My cousin, Nancy, who lived in the house next door, was already a freshman at Wisdom so my family was familiar with the school.  But I believe the primary reason I went to OLWA was because my father considered a subway ride into the bowels of Brooklyn much too dangerous for his “little girl”.   My parents assumed that taking a bus in the opposite direction - out towards Queens – would be a much safer option.    So in September 1958, dressed to the gills in nylons, some sort of pre-historic girdle, bobby socks, navy blue and white saddle shoes, long sleeved white blouse, navy blue jumper, navy blue blazer with the OLWA patch sewn securely on the left side, I began my high school experience in a very interesting, multi-windowed, albeit ancient, drafty one-story structure known as Room 110.

At the time, I was 13 years old, my figure was still rather one dimensional, and I thought I was much “too tall” therefore I slouched a bit in order to compensate.    I suffered from adolescent acne, and a bad perm; I felt awkward and out of place. 

In the fog of old recollections, there are a few clearer snapshots.  On the momentous occasion of our 50^th year anniversary of High School graduation, I jotted down a few.  Maybe you can relate to one or two.

·         I vividly recall raising my hand, and standing by the side of my desk in Room 110 as I asked a question in an attempt to clarify a  document of faith that had just been presented by our Religion Instructor, Sister So and So.   I felt stung, shocked and embarrassed as I was told, “Isn’t that what I just said?   Interesting though, I’m still asking for clarifications and I’m still being reprimanded.   Some things about a person never change.

I remember:

·          our ultra modest skirted gym suits with attached pantaloons and taking forever to stitch my name, Mary Beth Fries, across the back.  On nice weather days, my classmates and I would cross the street to a rather small, chain-linked enclosed outdoor recreation area for gym class.  Sometimes cars would have to stop to let us finish crossing and occasionally we would receive a wolf-whistle or two.   Realizing what our gym suits looked like, I often wondered if the wolves were simply being sarcastic.

·         taking massive amounts of written notes as the facts and figures flowed from the mouth of efficient Miss Rose Culligan in American History class.  I hardly ever looked over the notes again except in the brief cramming session before a major exam.

·         in sophomore year, sweet and gentle Sister Ancilla coming over to my desk and quietly telling me to keep my mouth still while I was reading to myself.  I never forgot that bit of simple advice and, to this day, I occasionally think of Sister Ancilla as I sit alone and read.

·         I absolutely loved Algebra and Geometry and I wished I could one day be a High School math teacher.   Sadly thinking that my only real choices were nun, teacher (but certainly not Math), nurse or secretary.   

·         feelings of total dread and isolation on the bus trip to Litchfield, Connecticut and coming quickly to the conclusion that I could definitely cross off “nun” from my mental list of life’s choices.   Feeling guilty for feeling this way and thinking that becoming a nurse would somehow make it up to God.

·          going through a brief crush on an upper classmen (or should I say classwomen) on the basketball team and then realizing I liked men better.   I later was relieved when I learned in an Intro to Psychology course that same sex attractions are a normal developmental stage.   

·         walking downstairs to a crowded, partially underground area containing our metal lockers.

·         changing clothes behind the stage curtains before and after gym.

·         the wonderful feeling of “belonging” as I developed special friendships with some lovely young ladies in my class – Linda Giarratano, Phyllis Fragale, Susan Bellamacina.  Thanks you Special Friends, it was so great to feel accepted by you.

·         sitting in the lunchroom with these new found friends and purposely securing a table at the end of a row so I could check out the returning trays to see if any interesting- looking leftover food items were up for grabs.  These new found friends put up with a lot of embarrassment by association. 

·         attending dances at other High Schools with Louise Andrison and lamenting that OLWA had none.

·         during a school retreat in the chapel, standing in line for confession behind Louise Cola as we rehearsed together how we would verbalize our sins to the priest.    I remember admiring her and thinking she had “better” sins than mine.

·         fearing that I might be greeted by only one corsage on my desk as I walked into class on the morning of my birthday.  Do you remember those interesting, creative corsages that were decorated with certain objects (tootsie roll pops , sugar cubes, Bolooka Bubble Gum, dog biscuits, etc.) depending on your age. 

to be continued...... Reflections on HS

Something for my Family

This is a picture taken in December 1937 of the childhood home of Charles A.Fries, Sr. (aka, Poppi). He was born in the front, upstairs bedroom on November 2, 1915 (to parents, Joseph Fries and Elizabeth Daniels Fries).   I believe that the address at the time was # 8 Vermont Ave., Brooklyn 7, NY.  I'll check with Poppi to see if I have this correct.  I do not think that the Interboro Parkway (now known as the Jackie Robinson Parkway) had been built yet.   Charlie had just turned 22 years old (in Nov) when this photo was taken.  He eventually ( 1945)  bought the house next door (# 62 Interboro Pkwy -  the door is visible) where he and my mother, Rita Mary O'Donnell Fries raised their 4 children. The home was sold 50 years later in 1995.