I wasn’t a big fan of going to school when I was growing up and I really looked forward to Fridays. I could hardly wait to get home. It’s not that I didn’t do well at school; I studied very hard and usually my grades were good. It wasn’t that: it was because I was extremely shy. It almost crippled me. The worst thing was if I had to speak in class and to this day I still hate speaking in public.
Mommy and daddy always built us kids up and told us “you’re as good as the best and better than the rest” but it was very hard for me to overcome my shyness. My heart still races and I feel panicky when I get called upon to say a few words before a crowd. I guess it amounts to some kind of phobia.
There were some mean kids I remember who used to tease me. “Maureen Maloney full of baloney” I got a lot. I remember mommy told us “sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you” but they kind of did actually. I guess every school and every generation has its bullies.
Most of the kids were nice however. I had some really good friends that I felt comfortable with. I remember one of my friends, Cecilia lived across the street from my primary school, Our Lady of the Annunciation in Hull and sometimes I would go to her place at noon and eat my lunch with her instead of in the school cafeteria. Wendy was another good friend and oftentimes I would visit her on the way home from school for a short time. One of my best friends growing up was Kathleen who lived next door to us on Isabelle Street, but she didn’t go to the school I went to. I think she went to a French School .
Anyways I think all kids are happy when it’s Friday. I really did thank God it was Friday when the end of the school week came around. It was like two days of heaven on earth because I loved the weekends, being home with my family: it was just so comfortable. In fact walking home from school with Johnny on a Friday evening was the best feeling.
I remember watching Mighty Mouse at 5 o’clock and eating my supper on one of the TV trays that mommy kept in the corner of the living room. Mighty Mouse seemed to be always rescuing a "damsel in distress" who was tied to a train track. This was a recurring theme.
Friday was the only time we were allowed to eat in front of the TV set. We often had macaroni and cheese. Mommy made the best macaroni and cheese in the world. Sometimes by the end of the week there wasn’t a lot of food left in the house so we might have cereal for supper. But I loved when we did that just as much as anything else.
Quite often when Johnny and I walked home from school during the winter mommy would have hot chocolate ready for us. Oh man I loved the hot chocolate that mommy made with real cocoa. And to make things even better, mommy said we could put our pyjamas on and get cozy. And if it was Friday evening we were allowed to wait till Saturday morning to do our homework: usually anyways.
We still had to go to bed earlier than I would have liked on Fridays, but if there was a good late movie on TV (a good movie usually meant a western) daddy would wake Johnny and me up and bring us downstairs to watch it. And on top of this, daddy made us “cheesies” for a snack. Daddy’s “cheesies” were awesome. He made them with slices of bread cut in two, topped with cheese whiz and partly cooked bacon and put in the oven for 10 minutes. We didn’t eat meat on Fridays growing up, but we had these special treats after midnight so we weren’t breaking any rules. Mom and dad were strict about not eating meat on Fridays.
Friday evening, around our house was perfect: hot chocolate, cozy jammies, TV supper, Mighty Mouse; movie after midnight and cheese and bacon things that daddy made in the oven.
And when I grew up and visited my parents in Kemptville, daddy still made these yummy cheesies for us to eat when we watched television in the evening.
Mommy and daddy always built us kids up and told us “you’re as good as the best and better than the rest” but it was very hard for me to overcome my shyness. My heart still races and I feel panicky when I get called upon to say a few words before a crowd. I guess it amounts to some kind of phobia.
There were some mean kids I remember who used to tease me. “Maureen Maloney full of baloney” I got a lot. I remember mommy told us “sticks and stones may break your bones but names will never hurt you” but they kind of did actually. I guess every school and every generation has its bullies.
Most of the kids were nice however. I had some really good friends that I felt comfortable with. I remember one of my friends, Cecilia lived across the street from my primary school, Our Lady of the Annunciation in Hull and sometimes I would go to her place at noon and eat my lunch with her instead of in the school cafeteria. Wendy was another good friend and oftentimes I would visit her on the way home from school for a short time. One of my best friends growing up was Kathleen who lived next door to us on Isabelle Street, but she didn’t go to the school I went to. I think she went to a French School .
Anyways I think all kids are happy when it’s Friday. I really did thank God it was Friday when the end of the school week came around. It was like two days of heaven on earth because I loved the weekends, being home with my family: it was just so comfortable. In fact walking home from school with Johnny on a Friday evening was the best feeling.
I remember watching Mighty Mouse at 5 o’clock and eating my supper on one of the TV trays that mommy kept in the corner of the living room. Mighty Mouse seemed to be always rescuing a "damsel in distress" who was tied to a train track. This was a recurring theme.
I still remember the Mighty Mouse Theme song like it was yesterday
Friday was the only time we were allowed to eat in front of the TV set. We often had macaroni and cheese. Mommy made the best macaroni and cheese in the world. Sometimes by the end of the week there wasn’t a lot of food left in the house so we might have cereal for supper. But I loved when we did that just as much as anything else.
Quite often when Johnny and I walked home from school during the winter mommy would have hot chocolate ready for us. Oh man I loved the hot chocolate that mommy made with real cocoa. And to make things even better, mommy said we could put our pyjamas on and get cozy. And if it was Friday evening we were allowed to wait till Saturday morning to do our homework: usually anyways.
We still had to go to bed earlier than I would have liked on Fridays, but if there was a good late movie on TV (a good movie usually meant a western) daddy would wake Johnny and me up and bring us downstairs to watch it. And on top of this, daddy made us “cheesies” for a snack. Daddy’s “cheesies” were awesome. He made them with slices of bread cut in two, topped with cheese whiz and partly cooked bacon and put in the oven for 10 minutes. We didn’t eat meat on Fridays growing up, but we had these special treats after midnight so we weren’t breaking any rules. Mom and dad were strict about not eating meat on Fridays.
Friday evening, around our house was perfect: hot chocolate, cozy jammies, TV supper, Mighty Mouse; movie after midnight and cheese and bacon things that daddy made in the oven.
And when I grew up and visited my parents in Kemptville, daddy still made these yummy cheesies for us to eat when we watched television in the evening.
Mommy and daddy I really miss you.
Please Pray for all your kids, grandkids, great grand kids , great, great grand kids etc. etc. etc!!!
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