First Communion

I believe that this was in 1946. I was in Grade three at Nativity of the BVM school. The school was of course part of the parish of the Nativity of the BVM. Now BVM is not a vehicle for the virgin such as an MGB or BMV. No it was short for Blessed Virgin Mary to be distinguished from the other Nativity in Christendom, namely the nativity of the Christ Child which we now celebrate as the birth of the special person or some such.

Note the fine tailoring of the F.C. suit. Since I was the third in the family to wear this holy garb it was tailored once again by my talented seamstress mother.

Note the bags under my eyes which even at that early age came from reading in poor light being a flashlight under the covers.

I am standing in the backyard of 428 14th Street Buffalo New York where I grew up. A fence similar to that behind me encased the yard and confined my siblings and I to the relative safety of a small but functional play area. That is until (aided by Big Brother Richard) I learned the fine art of fence climbing. Thereafter on saturday mornings when my mother slept in for a few well deserved minutes of rest after sending my father off to the bank in his freshly pressed white shirt, I would climb the fence (to the dismay of my younger brother Jack who was unable to master this feat) and scurry away for a day of running free whereever my feet took me.

Mostly I walked the length of Massachusettes avennue to Front Park which began under the Peace bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo. In this park which at that time covered a large area were ball fields, tennis courts and down the hill to the river there was a marina which on a saturday morning bustled with activity. I watched the boats, watched the water rush by on its pell mell course from the eastern end of lake Erie to the mouth of the Niagara River and thence to the glorious Falls of Niagara. The water was frightening in its speed which i tested by throwing twigs into the water and racing along the shore to see if I could go as fast as the water. I lost! Even years later I could not keep up with th speed of the water at that point.

Out in the middle of the river mouth, under the shadow of the Peace Bridge sits a large concrete device shaped like an old flat iron. I was told by someone and I can't remember who, that the device was placed there to divide the water so it would flow more evenly down the river where a number of hydro electric plants had been built.

I was in third grade in the Nativity of the BVM school. In grade two and three I had the same teacher, the only non-nun I had in the grade school system. In fact the only non-nun I ever recall. The Sisters of St. Joseph,the order of nuns who ran the school at BVM were also the ones who ran the big Sister's Hospital on Main Street in Buffalo (where later Ann Callaghan - later wife of my younger brother John
worked for many years). So teaching nuns were in short supply in 1946 and so the school - parish brought in a lay person to teach in the second and third grade which was combined that year. The need for the nuns in the hospital was due to the number of wounded vets who returned from the WWII in need of medical attention.

I hope the picture comes up. Imagine I was just a year older than Aidan and Erin and like them had a sweet enigmatic smile. Almost angelic - wouldn't you say or perhaps fallen angelic - devilish???