All of my Catholic grade school years were spent at HOLY FAMILY SCHOOL which is located on Poplar Level Road in Louisville, Kentucky. The Sisters of Charity of Nazareth were our teachers.
When I entered the first grade, we lived in a small bungalow near our family grocery store at the intersection of Trevillion Way, a few blocks from the school. With my eighth-grade brother, Paul, I walked to school. His teacher was Sister Mary Olive who was also our Principal.
Sister Seraphine was the nun whose orders were obeyed by the first graders in her charge of which I was one who annoyed her on many occasions. “Gerry Kernen! Stand up and put your hands on the back of your chair!” was the command I complied with periodically much to my dismay and embarrassment.
When I could no longer bear repeatedly shedding tears in private, I confided my problem with my mother who told me to ask Sister what I was doing wrong and that I had to stand up. I had never thought of questioning Sister Seraphine’s authority until my mother sanctioned the idea. Questioning her, in my young mind was equal to begging for ex-communication and that I knew would be troublesome to the end of my days on earth.
When Sister Seraphine gave her terse command the following morning, I stood up, hands at my side and with brave chin up, forced myself to ask why I had to stand up.
She replied with eyes narrowed at me, “You wiggle too much!”
In this day and age, I probably would have been diagnosed with ADD but back then I made a valiant attempt to keep my feet flat on the floor and bottom in an almost frozen position on my chair. Instead of being medicated, I went on my merry way to become an artist and a writer who watched people and learned to have great compassion for others who in many forms were made to “stand up and put their hands on the back of their chairs.”