Rose Marie Hall

I had some really good friends when I was growing up. Interesting that they fell into two different groups. My neighborhood friends that I played with from morning til night, and the other friends that I saw everyday and with whom I survived the rigors of school. My neighborhood friends didn't have the privilege of wearing red plaid, pleated wool uniform skirts to school, but were able to wear whatever dress they liked everyday. I know life was hard for them, what with having to make those decisions each morning about what to wear, and I pitied them for it. But they seemed to do okay, and so did I. 

My  two best friends in school were Theresa Fernandez, and Rose Marie Hall. There was "something for everyone" in our class with 66 kids to choose from. And since each level had two classrooms, there were actually 132 in each grade. Lots of potential for buddies. I don't know exactly what drew the three of us together, but I DO know that there were the "in" girls, and we were most definitely "OUT"! Even though we wore uniforms, the cool girls wore them in such a way that they looked way better than the rest of us. 

Interesting how some girls are just able to do that. The status symbols were the shoes. The preferred shoes were the white oxfords with red soles, and only the stylish girls wore them. Those girls usually rolled up the  their skirts at the waist as well. That way they could pass length checks, which consisted of the skirts having to touch the ground when we kneeled down, but look more flattering when they were rolled up shorter. Not that this practice was accepted by the priests and nuns. A girl was given a stern "talking to" and a free trip to the principals office when the teacher noticed that she was rolling her skirt. 

There were also dire consequences when a girl was caught wearing make up. Anne Marie Diersing used to wear make up to school and then let her hair fall in front of her face so no one would notice. She kept her head kind of bowed down and would peek through her overgrown bangs, like the rest of us were idiots and didn't know what she was trying to hide. One day Sister Bernardia caught on to Anne Marie's make up wearing ways and took her to the bathroom where she demanded that she wash her face with Mr. Clean. THAT couldn't have been any fun!!

But my friends Theresa and Rose Marie and I managed to navigate school without getting into too much trouble, and discussed important things like deodorant vs. antiperspirant at recess and break times. When  you were wearing wool to school everyday and you lived in Southern California, those discussions were important! But I'll never forget the day when Rose Marie broke  me of ever eating bologna sandwiches again. 

We ate our lunches under an outdoor shelter and after running around at recess, we returned to our classroom for reading time. We would line up along the walls and take turns reading paragraphs. Rose Marie was next to me that fateful day and was in the middle of reading her paragraph when the bologna on wonder bread sandwich and milk she had for lunch "re-appeared".......... all over her reader. Time stood still as I looked at her and watched as she looked from the mess on her reader up to the nun at the front of the class. Huge tears formed in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. There was absolutely nothing worse for an "un-cool" girl than to blow chunks in the class room. My heart broke for her, but my stomach turned at the sight of the artistic display in front of her. And that spelled the end of my bologna eating days forever. 

I don't know what ever happened to Theresa and Rose Marie. But unlike bologna, they remain a part of the fabric of my life. Yeah. It's red plaid. 

His soul shall dwell at ease;

And his seed shall inherit the land.

The friendship of Jehovah is with them that fear Him;

And He will show them His covenant.

Mine eyes are ever toward Jehovah;

Ps. 25:13-15

First day of school 60's vintage