Tag Archives: St. Francis de Sales

Pieces of What

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It’s a Monday and it’s been a gorgeous day as well. That hardly ever happens, a pleasant Monday. I guess not going in to work might help.

Last night Bill and I watched Lawn Hors d’œuvre: Criminal Malcontent which was good. Bravo has back to back episodes and Bill has a thing for Chris Noth.

It was enjoyable. I try to ween myself off the Lawn Hors d’œuvre franchise but Bill loves to watch it so I indulge.

After that was True Blood which was most excellent. So excellent that when something was revealed at the end I stomped my feet in approval which surprised Bill somewhat. Oh it was just so good. Things are getting more intense and getting bloodier too.

Hung was good but I didn’t really play that much attention. Same with Entourage but I did pay a little bit more attention. Bill and I stayed up later than usual since he’s off of work this week and me, I’m unemployed.

I plan on going in to the office tomorrow just to check in with Greg Stevens, letting him know what’s going on. I have no phone for me, no desk computer so what is the point? I figure I’ll make more of an impact with my absence.

Today was a busy day for me on Facebook. Some former classmates from St. Francis de Sales grammar school started a Facebook group and I joined. Suddenly I was inundated by these former classmates.

It was good to see who was up to what. A few divorces, and I was surprised by the fact that a few of them were Republicans. Still they are just Facebook friends now.

There are a few I’d like to meet again, and a few I would be wary about. The ones I would be wary about are the ones who went to the same high school as me, Paramus Catholic Boys Prep School.

When we all meet up again in September 1976 we were all assigned different home rooms and I basically never hung out with my grammar school classmates again. I found other friends, whereas they all basically hung out together those years of high school.

They were mostly from the other side of Lodi anyhow. I did meet 2 of them at the awful reunion I attended in 2000. I was talking to one of them, Jimmy B, who then called the other one over, Santo M. Santo’s first thing out of his mouth was ‘Who said I was gay?’

To prove he wasn’t gay he motioned over to his wife with the big chest. I was pretty much wired and stood near the bar, drinking nips of Heineken and being the only one tipping at an open bar, leaving the other customers to wonder why they weren’t getting the service I was getting.

It was good to make contact with most of these grammar school friends. Some of them still live in Lodi with their kids. No overtures about meeting up so far. I’m sure someone will suggest meeting up at the Crow’s Nest or somewhere out there.

I just wonder whatever happened to Jim Carley from Harrington Park and John Nesselt of Glen Rock and Kevin Wagner of Saddle Brook NJ & Orlando FL. Those were the 3 guys that I hung out with each semester. After graduation from high school they seemed to have vanished off the face of the earth.

I did work with Kevin at HBJ. He was hurt that I didn’t tell him I was gay, we drifted apart from that moment.

Their names never come up on Facebook or Google, and I’ve searched a few times throughout the years. I’m sure if I was looking for Mrs. Talamini I’d have no problem digging her up.

***Jim Carley died of a heart attack in 1997 while jogging. John Nesselt still does not want to be found, and neither does Kevin Wagner.***

Miss Gaudio's class Grade 4A 1971-72

Miss Gaudio's class Grade 4A 1971-72


Miss Vendermere's 5th grade class 1972-73

Miss Vendermere's 5th grade class 1972-73

Don’t Feel Like Dancin’

Well I didn’t do much at all today. Bill and I stayed local. Most of the day, local meant staying in the apartment. I was itchy to go out, if not the city then Hoboken. Anywhere rather than staying in. Bill napped, I finished off the Lord of the Rings. Got choked up again at the end, Frodo going off to the undying lands.

I avoided the Jerry Lewis telethon. A few years ago I got caught up in it and donated some money. But that was when I was living in Weehawken and everything was cheaper. This time of year is aways tinged with despair. It always signified the end of summer, which technically it isn’t. The whole sinking feeling of having to go back to school.

Bill and I walked around Hoboken and that was the subject at hand. Of course the mention of my having to be pried off the fence at St. Francis de Sales at the beginning of the school year was brought up. Me horizontal being held by someone deaf to my screams and cries. Yes, that’s when the whole abandonment issues started up I guess.

Growing up, this weekend was when the VFW Post 3484 had their annual picnic in Saddle Brook County Park. Fried foods, shucked clams, playing in the Saddle River, drunken veterans occasionally smacking their wives and getting thumped by quite a few not as drunk fellow veterans.

Eventually the adults realized that they would have to go home with their families, the kids whining, the parents buzzed. Keep in mind, this was the 1970’s, and if you were pulled over by the police for drunk driving, you would more than likely be told to drive home directly.

I really hated school. All of my life I hated it. It was a source of torment and bad feelings a lot of the time. Maybe it was me not being a good student, maybe I had lousy teachers. When I was given the opportunity to go to college, or actually when college was mentioned as a choice I rejected it. If I hated going to school when it was mandatory, it would be a waste of money for me to go and continue my education.

I think I chose wisely on that front. Still that horrible feeling over Labor Day weekend hits me every year. Talking about it absolutely helped and I walked Bill over to the Path train and found a quiet spot on the river where I smoked a Padron and read the New Yorker and watched a helicopter get dangerously close to various boats and buildings on the Manhattan side of the Hudson. Scary to watch but nothing bad happened.

I also seemed to be the only one paying attention. Ran into Rand and Lisa as we walked along Sinatra Drive. They were headed in the opposite direction. We walked over to Castle Point Terrace, a block of some really nice buildings by Stevens Tech.

That came about from a few days ago when I asked Bill if he could live anywhere in Hoboken where would it be. He said Garden Street because of the trees, I mentioned up where were were. Big old buildings, pre war. Nice and semi secluded.

And Sarah Palin is going to be a grandmother! How happy she must be for her 17 year old unwed daughter. Everyone’s happy about it! Abstinence only education works! Yeah!