First day in school

I was scared, really scared on my first day of school.  Luckily my older brother was a year ahead of me, so I had someone to go to school with and was not alone in my sojourn into the broader world outside my home.  The school was named "Good Shepherd" and was run of course by nuns who belonged to an order of the same name....the school was small and had only three classrooms on the south side of the hallway.  The first and second grades where in the first room, 3 and 4th in the second and well you get the picture;it went to the sixth grade.  So my next to the oldest brother was in the same class as I was and my oldest was in the 6th grade in the last room.

I remember my brother introducing me to some of the big kids in the second grade and one of the boys asking if I could run; well let me tell you I was never very good at running.  My brother said sure I could run and he turned to me and told me to show them my skills at moving at great speeds.....wanting to make a good impression I started running so hard that my feet hit my butt, now that must count for something right (?), well I don't think I impressed anyone too much but at least I tried.  I had the impression that they were under whelmed by my efforts.

The first hour in the class was interesting, we were given our seats and then given our supplies which I thought were cool; pencils, paper all in bright and interesting colors.  After that we were all asked to introduce ourselves, so one by one we stood up and gave out our names...well most of us did, but I didn't, I stood up and well just 'stood', I forgot who I was, my name did not raise up to notify my brain which was in a state of shock, so I think sister might have thought that I would be a good candidate for special class or something.  She finally coaxed it out of me.... as you can see I was doing a great job at making good first impressions, it is a gift I have, rare no doubt but still a gift.    Then we go out to recess and there is when my first day in school sort of plotted my course after that.  We were playing kick ball and I went after the ball, running hard with my feet hitting my butt (go figure) and just when I was about to kick the ball I slipped in...ahem....I can't say this delicately....dog shit, it was all over my backside; a good beginning, I felt so blessed.....well I stayed calm, threw the ball back to the team and disappeared for about twenty minutes; the exact time left for recess.  I tried to get the stuff off of my pants, I rubbed my butt on the grass (my butt comes into play a lot doesn't it) trying desperately to get the smell and stain off my pants.  Luckily no one saw me so I had something to be thankful about.  Recess was over and I went back into the class room and quickly sat down in my chair and thought or fervently wished that it was all over....nope......after about 5 minutes someone said that something really smelled and everyone started looking around the room and I joined in looking as well; I was not going to raise my hand and tell everyone what happened now could I?   Well I was found out anyway and the sister sent me over to the convent and they gave me some pants to wear while they washed my own.  So my first day of school was an interesting day over all, if not much fun, and it took awhile before my beloved classmates let me forget it...... and dear teacher for awhile kind of smiled when I came into the room for the next couple of days, you know the way people smile but are really trying not to laugh; got that from the other sisters also.  I bet they had stories to tell each other in the evening about the interesting things that happened to their students.  So my school career was marked from the beginning by dog shit and I never got over it.  Of course I think it is very funny now, time has a funny way of doing that making embarrassing moments from the past funny in the present.

Peace

Mitch