boyhood sketch 15. FRENCH KISSING

Times Square VJ Day Kiss

My friend Joey Daniels lived around the corner on Raymond Street. He had two sisters, Pat and Geraldine. Pat was about two years older than Joey and me, and Geraldine was a year younger. All of this is approximate. In our neighbourhood we filled our time with all kinds of activities of our own invention. The Anglican Church was on one side of Robertson Public School and First United Church was on the other side of the school.  This was one of the most curious.  On a couple of occasions, we went into the back yard of St. George's Anglican Church, secluded, shaded with green bushes and trees. By 'we' I mean Pat and Geraldine and one other girl and a couple of other boys and me. We sat cross-legged in a circle and either a girl or a guy spun an empty bottle on the ground. The spinner had to kiss whomever, of the opposite sex mind you, the bottle pointed to. It was all done comically and demonstrably, with cheers and whooees. The object was to duplicate what we thought was a French kiss. Kissers would stand up, face each other and the guy would put an arm around the back of the female and bend back as far as he could hold her and give her a smooch. We would plant our feet so we could almost touch the back of the girl's head to the ground and would hold the smooch as long as we dared. I liked kissing Geraldine the best.

boyhood sketch 11. GRADE THREE - PAIN AND LOVE

Court Street School, St. Catharines

We moved to 10 Clark Street in the city when I was seven. I attended Court Street Public School for my third grade. I turned eight the first week of school. Mom walked me to school the first few days. After that I was on my own. Uphill to the corner of Church Street, turn left and one one long block to Court Street, cross Church Street and continue, across King Street to school at the corners of Court and Central Streets. I met classmates along the way so we were all secure. My homeroom teacher was Mrs. Robinson, a huge middle-aged bespectacled woman who wore her grey hair pulled back into a large bun behind her head. She was also the principal of the school. I always enjoyed school but that changed when I wrestled with another boy on the way home. Apparently we were to stay in formation until we had crossed King Street. We had broken a rule. There was a punishment associated with the rule of which we were unaware. The teacher who accompanied us to the King Street crossing reported us. Upon returning to class in the afternoon, my partner in crime and I received corporal punishment. We were strapped on our hands with the notorious leather strap contained in Mrs. Robinson’s desktop drawer. I recall that it didn’t hurt much and to show that I could handle it, I made a point of smiling at my classmates as I returned to class. I think she was easy on us. The best thing about grade three was my mad one-year love affair with Terry Lynn Emas. Joey Daniels my neighbourhood buddy also liked her but I was the one whom she invited to her birthday party at her home and that settled it.