COFFEE TIME WITH SISTER WILHELMINA

“Child, what are you drinking?” Usually, we could hear a nun approaching behind us. Those clacking rosaries and heavy footsteps gave children advance warning before the wrath of heaven descended upon their misdeeds. I must have been extra tired that day because I heard nothing, not even the rustling of the voluminous black habit Sister … Continue reading COFFEE TIME WITH SISTER WILHELMINA →

We, Then and Now

We were gorgeous, then and now. We didn’t know it Didn’t see it Didn’t feel it. But We were gorgeous, then and now. We saw only flaws Saw the frizz hair And the spot face. But We were gorgeous, then and now. We were so splendid Youth shining through Hormones rising. Yes We were gorgeous, … Continue reading We, Then and Now →

THE HUMAN TOUCH

Dominican Sisters of the Shrine of the Perpetual RosaryHaddon Avenue, Camden NJ about 2007 The Human Touch A finger poked through the metal grate separating us. I reached out my hand and was immediately hooked into a finger embrace. “Me, too! Me, too! Me, too!” Fingers wiggled through the metal barrier that separated me from … Continue reading THE HUMAN TOUCH →

First School Dance: Crossing the Generational Divide

Collingswood Junior High School NOTE: "Linda" is a composite of my friends. In 1954, the most common names for baby girls were Mary, Linda, and Deborah. As my father pulled the car, full of giggling seventh-grade girls, alongside the Collingswood Junior High School gym on that cool September evening in 1966, I could hear the … Continue reading First School Dance: Crossing the Generational Divide →

A POLISH CAMDEN KITCHEN

by Deborah Large Fox My dziadek, Watson (Wencel) Burdalski, in his kitchen at 1545 Mt. Ephraim Avenue, Camden NJabout 1950 "Children should be seen and not heard." To use another saying common to my parents’ generation, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that admonishment as a child, I'd be a rich … Continue reading A POLISH CAMDEN KITCHEN →