coloring, almost as much as dancing and singing.
“This is a good place for you girls to say your night prayers at, eh?” Jimmy said.
“ But the angel one’s too big to put on our altar,” said Mary, pointing to the small box.
Jimmy took the drawing and, with a quick tap to a nail, secured it on the wall above the small table.
“It’s like she’s watching over Helen and Baby Kit,” Cathy said quietly.
Standing back, Jimmy looked at the table and said suddenly, “I know what we need.” He left the bedroom and came back with a dark wood frame that had held a black-and-white photo of his stern looking parents. He easily slid the photo of Helen into the frame. It was perfect. He also brought in a tapered white candle in one of the bronze candlesticks that had belonged to his mother. Lastly, he handed them a crucifix.
June looked at the cross with Jesus hanging on it. She was sad to see Jesus being hurt and didn’t want it in her room.
“ Daddy, this is for girls in here and Jesus is a boy,” she said sincerely.
Cathy hoped Jimmy wouldn ’t get angry with June for rejecting the cross. Surprisingly, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Aye, alright.”
He lit the candle and gave it to June. With both hands, she ceremoniously placed it behind the circle of stones and under her angel drawing. It was getting late and the room had grown dark during the creation of the altar. The family sat quietly in the small, sacred space illuminated by candlelight.
* * * * *
Chapter 10
HOLY SAVIOR SCHOOL
THE MACDONALDS ARRIVED in San Francisco with much promise of a new beginning and a note from their parish priest that secured the three older girls an immediate acceptance into a Catholic school. The family’s reputation was firmly established by the first day at Holy Savior, the neighborhood parochial school.
The March winds had died down and the day was warming up. The heavy, woolen sweater itched Maggie ’s arms as she, along with her mother and sisters, walked up Diamond Street toward the first day at school. Annie had helped her mother iron the school uniforms to perfection. She was proud Maggie, Mary, and she looked clean and tidy in their white blouses and pleated navy-blue skirts. But Cathy wasn’t as satisfied. Even though she had stayed up late sewing the night before, the hem on Mary’s skirt was hanging on one side. She searched her handbag for a safety pin, called Mary to her side and knelt down to pin up the skirt. It didn’t help that her daughter was bouncing from one foot to the other while humming a little ditty that Granda B had taught her.
The days will come and the days will pass
when Orangemen will go to Mass.
And the Fenian boys will kick their ass
right up and down the chapel path.
Cathy tried to stifle a laugh, but it burst forth anyway when she looked at Mary ’s twinkling dark eyes and joyous face. Impulsively, she gave her daughter a quick bear hug and said, as seriously as she could, “In America they don’t fight over religion. Let’s not sing that. Okay?” She stood back up, “Let’s go.” Cathy hoped her seven-year-old would do better in this school. The Scottish schools hadn’t been easy for Mary, with her rambunctious ways and slowness to grasp her letters and numbers.
On the walk to school, Maggie held her head high and sashayed down the street. Of all her children, Cathy knew Maggie would do well , no matter what school she attended. She had always been a popular and good student.
Maggie wondered aloud to her sisters about which boy ’s initials would be the first written on her new school PeeChee folder. When Mary reminded her that Daddy told her to stop this boy crazy thing, Maggie boasted that a lot of boys were crazy for her and that maybe she’d invite a special one to her upcoming eighth birthday party, just two weeks away.
Cathy wanted them to enter the schoolyard together as a family, but Annie had walked ahead and was alr eady at the gate. At
“This is a good place for you girls to say your night prayers at, eh?” Jimmy said.
“ But the angel one’s too big to put on our altar,” said Mary, pointing to the small box.
Jimmy took the drawing and, with a quick tap to a nail, secured it on the wall above the small table.
“It’s like she’s watching over Helen and Baby Kit,” Cathy said quietly.
Standing back, Jimmy looked at the table and said suddenly, “I know what we need.” He left the bedroom and came back with a dark wood frame that had held a black-and-white photo of his stern looking parents. He easily slid the photo of Helen into the frame. It was perfect. He also brought in a tapered white candle in one of the bronze candlesticks that had belonged to his mother. Lastly, he handed them a crucifix.
June looked at the cross with Jesus hanging on it. She was sad to see Jesus being hurt and didn’t want it in her room.
“ Daddy, this is for girls in here and Jesus is a boy,” she said sincerely.
Cathy hoped Jimmy wouldn ’t get angry with June for rejecting the cross. Surprisingly, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Aye, alright.”
He lit the candle and gave it to June. With both hands, she ceremoniously placed it behind the circle of stones and under her angel drawing. It was getting late and the room had grown dark during the creation of the altar. The family sat quietly in the small, sacred space illuminated by candlelight.
* * * * *
Chapter 10
HOLY SAVIOR SCHOOL
THE MACDONALDS ARRIVED in San Francisco with much promise of a new beginning and a note from their parish priest that secured the three older girls an immediate acceptance into a Catholic school. The family’s reputation was firmly established by the first day at Holy Savior, the neighborhood parochial school.
The March winds had died down and the day was warming up. The heavy, woolen sweater itched Maggie ’s arms as she, along with her mother and sisters, walked up Diamond Street toward the first day at school. Annie had helped her mother iron the school uniforms to perfection. She was proud Maggie, Mary, and she looked clean and tidy in their white blouses and pleated navy-blue skirts. But Cathy wasn’t as satisfied. Even though she had stayed up late sewing the night before, the hem on Mary’s skirt was hanging on one side. She searched her handbag for a safety pin, called Mary to her side and knelt down to pin up the skirt. It didn’t help that her daughter was bouncing from one foot to the other while humming a little ditty that Granda B had taught her.
The days will come and the days will pass
when Orangemen will go to Mass.
And the Fenian boys will kick their ass
right up and down the chapel path.
Cathy tried to stifle a laugh, but it burst forth anyway when she looked at Mary ’s twinkling dark eyes and joyous face. Impulsively, she gave her daughter a quick bear hug and said, as seriously as she could, “In America they don’t fight over religion. Let’s not sing that. Okay?” She stood back up, “Let’s go.” Cathy hoped her seven-year-old would do better in this school. The Scottish schools hadn’t been easy for Mary, with her rambunctious ways and slowness to grasp her letters and numbers.
On the walk to school, Maggie held her head high and sashayed down the street. Of all her children, Cathy knew Maggie would do well , no matter what school she attended. She had always been a popular and good student.
Maggie wondered aloud to her sisters about which boy ’s initials would be the first written on her new school PeeChee folder. When Mary reminded her that Daddy told her to stop this boy crazy thing, Maggie boasted that a lot of boys were crazy for her and that maybe she’d invite a special one to her upcoming eighth birthday party, just two weeks away.
Cathy wanted them to enter the schoolyard together as a family, but Annie had walked ahead and was alr eady at the gate. At
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