First Day in School: Last Meal

By Manual Daniel Germano

Prologue 

The author is seven years old and the “Lady from the State” has ordered that his immigrant parents send the blind Germano to Perkins School for the Blind.” To do that he must leave home and his close-knit Portuguese family and live at the school. He does not want to go. Relatives have visited his home to say good before he leaves the next day.

This article is being published in seven installments between September 30, 2015 and October 14, 2015. The second installment appears below. For links to other installments, see “Related Articles, Website/Video” at the end of this installment. Les Conklin, Editor 

First Day in School: Part One. Dreaded Day

Part Two. Last Meal

So as I remember it, I hardly slept the night before, but when my mother called me in the morning, I asked if I could sleep for five more minutes. I thought, maybe, that if I stayed in bed with my eyes tightly closed I could stop the time for a little while. I got up and had breakfast, which consisted of a chunk of masa generously spread with butter and coffee. This breakfast of massa, (which is Portuguese sweet bread) butter, and coffee would disappear for a long, long time. (Perkins never heard of massa and kids could not have coffee until they were 16 years old.)

The morning went by in a blur, and soon the car was packed with my suitcases, boxes of winter clothes, and a few toys. We then had a light lunch of delicious fried chourico with peppers in a roll with potato salad. (Again, I would not see chourico and peppers for a long time.)

smokeSmoke Smell

Pa then, in a rather loud stern voice, (I think Pa wanted to sound brave) announced that it was getting late and that it was a long, long trip. So we all piled into the car and slammed the doors shut. I sat in the front between my Pa and Ma with my sister, May, in the back with two girl friends. Then Pa lit his cigarette, which Pa did just before he did something or after he just finished doing something else. He lit a cigarette when he first got up, and then right after he finished breakfast, and so on and so on through the day. In fact, when I thought of Pa, part of him was smoke. He smelled of smoke, his clothes smelled of smoke, the easy chair he sat in smelled of smoke, and even the car smelled of smoke. It did not smell bad, it just smelled of my Pa, and that gave me a feeling of home and security. Again, this smell of smoke would disappear from my life for a long, long time and be replaced by that cold, sanitized “home” I would call Perkins.

Continued – Part Three: Longest Ride

Perkins School for the Blind Logo

 

Related Articles & Websites

First Day in School: Part One. Dreaded Day – Published 9/30/2015
First Day in School: Part Two. Last Meal – Published 9/30/2015
First Day in School: Part Three. Longest Ride – Published 10/3/2015
First Day in School: Part Four. Everything’s Different – Published 10/3/2015
First Day in School: Part Five. Strange Bed – Published 10/8/2015
First Day in School: Part Six. “Supper” to “Dinner” – To be published by 10/14/2015
First Day in School: Part Seven. Why? – To be published by 10/14/2015

Perkins School for the Blind Website , www.perkins.org  Visit Website

Dave Powers/Perkins School for the Blind Video on YouTube Watch Video

 

 

Author: Les Conklin

Les Conklin is a resident of north Scottsdale He founded Friends of the Scenic Drive, the Monte de Paz HOA and is the president of the Greater Pinnacle Peak Association. He was named to Scottsdale's History Maker Hall of Fame in 2014. Les is a past editor of A Peek at the Peak and the author of Images of America: Pinnacle Peak. He served on the Scottsdale's Pride Commission, McDowell Sonoran Preserve Commission, the boards of several local nonprofits and was a founding organizer of the city's Adopt-A-Road Program.. Les is a volunteer guide at the Musical Instrument Museum.

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