Rosemarie B.

I grew up in a great little town.My elementary school friends still feel like family whenever we meet. We played outside a lot. We rode bikes, threw water balloons, blew bubbles, and flew kites. We bought penny candy from Farro’s on the way to school, and strawberry tarts from Canzanese’s bakery on Saturdays. At recess, at St. Joe's, we literally froze on the first sound of the bell; on the second bell walked quietly into our grade groups and walked inside. In the summer, we swam in Swedesboro Lake Narriticon. I can still hear our lifeguard's whistle and shout “TAKE TEN”. Then he'd do flips off the diving board. In the winter, I’d ice skate on the lake. I remember the beauty of the night, and the stars in the sky. It probably wasn’t too safe to skate in the dark, but the angels must have been watching over us. The hot chocolate was surely from heaven.I remember the day we started to lock our doors at night. A neighborhood kid had taken advantage. I still feel the sadness of understanding what had happened, and seeing the new bolt being installed on the kitchen door. We laughed a lot as kids. I don’t remember too many fights. I do remember my dad buying my brothers boxing gloves and making them fight. We respected our parents, our teachers, the American flag, the principal, the janitor AND God. We Pledged Allegiance every day, ending with God Bless Our Flag.I feared embarrassing my parents more than what they would ever do. The sadness in their eyes would kill me more than any punishment. I thank my parents for moving from the city to this little “one horse town” as described by my South Philly Aunts, strutting in stiletto heels and flipping their dyed, teased hair :) I had a great childhood. We had enough, or never knew we didn’t. We sang in the car on the way to the shore, ate veal cutlet sandwiches, and drank cold coca cola. It was heaven, even though it was only a one day vacation. We were together. We were family.