school closing

I found out this week that my elementary school back home officially closed due to economic reasons. The link I have attached tells the story from the local paper. The teacher that comments in the story was my 3rd and 5th grade teacher. She was one of my favorites. http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090506/NEIGHBORS02/905050345

I started thinking about all the things that made that time in my life so great. In my old neighbor hood, I lived 3 houses from the school and so close to the church I could sit on the front porch and tell you who was walking into church and what they were wearing.

I loved when it snowed really hard and school was closed because you could go the "bowl" and go sledding. If you waited long enough the school yard would be plowed and you could go play in the snow banks. I lived so close to all of this I could hear my mom yell for me from the back porch.

I loved right before school was to open for the year sneaking in the school and meeting the teachers as they were preparing their rooms for the new year. I would help dig out the new books and help set up the classrooms.

I loved playing softball and was quite good at it at one time. I would go down to the playground and watch the boys play baseball or what they called "lob". Sometimes when they were short players I would be the designated pitcher. No one wanted a girl on their team so I just pitched for both sides.

I remember playing on the school fire escape and getting caught by my parents because you saw it from my home. There were windows on the back of the school that were pretty low to the ground you could climb up and sit in the ledges. I spent a lot of summer afternoons sitting in the window ledges.

Every Friday we walked from school to church as a class and would have to go to mass. When it was a special event or Holiday coming we would have to go to music practice on Thursday afternoons at the church. The church was pretty big and I loved walking in this big empty church because the silence was deafening. The sun would be beaming in through the stain glass windows. God was just waiting for you to come and visit.

The church will remain open. There is so much history there. My grandmother met her second husband there and they were married there. My parents were married there and I was married there. Even though Phil and I met and live in NC, we married in Toledo because I wanted to get married where my parents did. With Phil's family living in Indiana it was easier for them to come to Toledo than to come to Charlotte.

Probably my greatest memory was on Saturday nights. About 6:30 on Saturday night I would still be playing outside, especially in the summer. Like clock work my Great Uncle or his future wife my Great Aunt would bring my great grandmother to church. She only lived about 4-5 blocks away from us. I would be dirty and sweaty from playing outside all day but she always accept a hug and a kiss on her way into church. Some Saturdays I would go and sit with her at mass. We would whisper and giggle before it started. I miss her.

There are so many memories most of them good, it is sad to know that part of your own personal history closed too. It was a part of life that helped mold you into what you are today it's just gone. Hopefully, the new venture that is being created is a step in the right direction.