Dad read every school book us kids were given when the school year started. My dog never ate my homework, Dad just forgot to put homework back in when he finished... Sometimes he'd scribbled words on the back of arithmetic homework when a crossword puzzle answer came to him. Unfortunately, the nuns liked neatness as well as correct answers. While watching Gunsmoke, his favorite TV show, he'd have a pencil in one hand and a cap pistol in the other. Mom would be busy making shirts or dresses while Dad checked all the homework. School nights were busy nights at our house, and us kids were the remote control back then.
All homework had to be done by 9 o'clock because Mom took over the dining-room table then to lay out dress patterns. The tomato shaped pincushion was there and the scissors that only she could touch were laid on the table. TV off, homework completed, it was bedtime for us little ones. My older sister, Pat, helped pin material to the dress patterns and Micheal was given an extra hour to read one of his Science Fiction books.
My brother Frances and I climbed the stairs to our room and got in our pajamas. Kneeling next to our beds, we said our prayers and asked God to bless a list of people. We had to ask God for forgiveness for cutting through Mrs. Matthew's yard, making her angry, and for lying about who broke the garage window... I added a request for a big 48 color box of crayons. Turning on the space heater, grabbing my stuffed black sheep, I heard dad closing the steps door. I hoped he would hear my request for the big box of crayons…
