Well, I know I wanted to go to school before I could; before I was old enough, and my dad finally talked to the principal and my birthday being in January they let me start the school at five till I was six in January. So, I was always a little bit younger than my classmates. But, it was a real joy to go to school. I liked it.

Well as I recall, Dad was working as a surveyor when the Depression hit. I think it was just before I started to school, and I can recall my dad coming home in the mid morning with his lunch pail, cause he always took his lunch with him for surveying out in the field. He had lost his job.

I can remember I wondered as a kid, what are we going to do and everybody else was losing their jobs. So I do remember the Depression. I remember starting to school.

I was left-handed in everything I did and one of my older brothers was left-handed, and my parents thought I should not be writing left handed because they couldn’t read his writing. So, they taught me at home before I started school to write right handed.

But, when I went to school, the first week after I got acquainted with the teacher I wanted to take some flowers. I took a little bouquet I picked from the yard; Mother’s flowers, and of course I had to hold onto them. I got onto the teeter-totter and fell off and broke my right arm. So, I wrote left handed!

But they broke me again to write right handed! That’s why I say I’m not a good writer now. But, I raise left handed! I eat left handed. So, that’s one thing, and my grandson has noticed that. He knows about that.

I can tell you one incident while I was at grade school, younger grade school.

We used to have what they called lyceums at the high school.

They had programs and there was a magician there and we children got to sit down front. It was in the big gym and we sat down on the floor in front of the stage and this magician was pulling rabbits out of the hat and he needed a helper. Of course we all raised our hand and I was chosen.

I went up on the stage and my next older brother was in the high school audience. I guess he was quite embarrassed cause his little sister was up there! So he told Mother. Anyhow, the magician first made me think he was going to give me the rabbit. It was a white rabbit, and I was excited, but he better wrap it up so it didn’t get cold going home.

Then after he wrapped it in newspaper then he better see if it was alright and it wasn’t there. So I was quite brokenhearted! But, eventually I got the rabbit! Yes!

I took the rabbit home at the end of the meeting and its name was Molly and my dad took her – she had little ones, nine! And of course I brought a lot of friends to our house to see the baby rabbits. We had a lot of fun with those. Gave them away and people had them, but that was a fun experience.

This happened while I was still in grade school. I would guess nine, maybe?

I attended Bridgeport Townsend High School. In my junior year, I was an honor student but I missed the last few weeks of school because I had an emergency appendectomy operation. I didn’t get any grades at the end of the year until the beginning of the next year and had to take exams after being off all summer I had to take final exams and everything. I wasn’t happy with my French grade but I went on into French 2 and made it alright.

Today the town has about 2,300 people. That’s now, and then I think there probably weren’t more than 1,700. I think it was 1,750 when I was a kid.

I was in the band, played trumpet. On the debate team. They didn’t have any girl sports in those days. We had GAA, Girls Athletic Association. It was in our physical education class.

I am trying to remember when school took up but I know we had a – called it Ten Ten, which was like a program time where we assembled in this gym and we arranged special programs. It was at ten ten, which means ten minutes after ten! We always called it the Ten Ten.