Things My Mother Kept

After my recent archive closet update, I pulled down another box in the archive closet. The box was a mishmash of high school memorabilia and photos. Also in the box was a file folder my mom, Anna Kozlina Gilbride, kept filled with school items, important papers, and the like.

Here's some of what Mom kept, points in my life timeline:

I found a note Mom handwrote about my first steps:

9 mos. 8 days old

7-10-62 - Nancy took her first step today. She was leaning against the side of the playpen & she stood up alone, took one step & then grabbed onto the other side of the playpen.

There were two envelopes contain clippings from my first haircuts! The first was on 25 October 1962, when I was "1 year 23 days old." I must not have had much hair, because the clippings are less than an inch long! Another envelope includes my hair from my first "real" haircut on 10 July 1965. Mom kept a hank of my hair which is surprisingly red-gold. I've always been a "strawberry blonde," but I didn't realize just how red my hair was back then.

Mom saved the appointment card from when I had my tonsils out at Euclid General Hospital on 18 May 1966 when I was 4 years old. Mom even kept the tiny hospital bracelet that I wore that day, and the "Instructions for Parents" book that gave all the pre- and post-op instructions. Under the "Preparation of the Child for Surgery" section, the booklet notes: "It may sound stupid, but many children have been told that they are going to a Picnic, Circus, a 'Ride on a Cart,' or some other nonsense." Yikes! I am pretty sure I wasn't told any of those things.

At some point when I was little, there was a concern that I might have scoliosis, a disease Mom suffered with during her life. The folder also held an undated list of exercises I was to do. I was never diagnosed with the disease—not sure whether it was the exercises or just luck.

I was deemed a "healthy girl" in my pre-kindergarten physical, where I tipped the scales at 38 lbs. and stood 3'-6-3/4" tall.

Next up were cards Mom saved from my First Communion, which I received on 3 May 1969 at Immaculate Conception Church in Willoughby, Ohio. There are cards from my grandparents and my aunts and uncles.  I was confirmed on 11 November 1972, at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Willowick, Ohio, when I was in sixth grade, and Mom kept more cards. I love the text of the card my Grandma, Margaret Simonik Kozlina, gave me:

O God, fill me with
Love that knows no barrier
Courage that cannot be shaken
Faith strong enough for the darkness
Fill me with strength for my tasks
Loyalty to Thy Kingdom's goal
Wisdom to meet life's complexities
Power to lift men unto thee.

—Walter Fridy

In 1975, I graduated from 8th grade at St. Mary Magdalene School (SMMS), where I had gone to school from 5th grade on. A crayon-decorated program lists all the graduates—all 108 of them! It's hard to believe that SMMS closed down years ago from lack of enrollment, in contrast to the hundreds of kids that attended just that one school when I was young. Even if each grade averaged about 90 students in the kindergarten-8th grade, that's over 800 students at one neighborhood Catholic school. No wonder the nuns were stressed out!

I spent one year at Willowick Junior High School between SMMS and high school. Besides my report cards, Mom kept a very nice note from one of my favorite teachers, Mr. Roy McMullen, who was my homeroom teacher in 9th grade. I'll always appreciate that he noticed my new face and probably how uncomfortable I was as one of only a few kids who came from SMMS to Williowick Jr. High that year, and hardly knew anyone—all the other students had been together for 7th-8th grade. "This is a short note to say how much I enjoy having Nancy in class. She is very genuinely friendly young lady & a good student as well." Such a kindness.

In August 1976, I wrote a letter home to Mom from Lake Chautauqua Lutheran Camp in Bemus Point, New York, where I had gone for marching band camp as a member of the North High School Rangerette Flag Corps. This was the longest I had ever been away from home to that point. I wrote that we had to get up at 6:45 a.m. to go to the dining hall, because, "I am a 'gopher' now, but I'll explain that when I get back," and that "Some of these seniors are really rotten. At meals they make people stand on their chairs and ask other people to dance (I almost got that one!) or recite "Old McDonald" etc.!" Drama!

On 18 May 1978, I applied for my Social Security card in Euclid, Ohio, and Mom kept that receipt, and the stub from the card once I got it.

Mom kept programs for two theater productions I was in, "Go Ask Alice," and the musical "All American." I was a terrible actor and singer, but I had a great time and made lots of friends! And, I know that she enjoyed coming to the productions.

I'm glad I'm reading through these items, strolling down memory lane, and being reminded of some events long-forgotten. I feel ready to let most of them go, but will keep the memories they bring of different points in my life. On to the next box.

Until next time...

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© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2024. All rights reserved.

 

NOTE: Willowick and Eastlake are located in Lake County, Ohio. Euclid is located in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.