Our Lady of Mercy High School - Mercedes Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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AST nnght I sa1d a prayer and as I knelt there lookmg up mto the star studded heavens I began rememberxng remem berlng snlly llttle things that only a mother would remember unimportant to the world but I knew I-Ie would understand I remembered a curly headed baby who laughed so happily when he first found those tmy lnfant oes the dellght h1s first discovery gave hum I remembered a chubby little boy who knelt by hrs crib mumblmg Now I lay me down to sleep so tlred and so lovable As I watched it seemed that each one of those brrllrant stars brought back another blazing memory and another blmdxng tear to my eye All the mem ones came flooding towards me I could do nothing to stop them and so I let them come It was like a movle a movie of the m1nd I saw Tommy fallmg off the high stool with a flstful of my freshly made coolues nn his hand and such a guilty look on his face marchmg down the street with hrs newspaper soldier s hat cocked over comnng home from school that day wrth h1s first black eye so ashamed and pxtrful that I wanted to s1ng h1m a lullaby proudly sporting his first long pants playmg h1s first football game all tousled and muddy but del1r1ous with yoy joy m h1s youth h1s whole childhood came float mg back ahve agam but rt dldnt stop there I remembered the awful reallzatlon of Tommy s growing up The boys were callmg h1m Tom then he even washed h1s neck daily sans 1nv1tat1on I could st1ll see hlm on the stage the nrght he was graduated with honors from high school It Wear the N zgfn' Before Mother Love Could Do It In Wbzcb A Mother Pmyf for Courage SOPHIE BARNETT 44 tall and unafraid so terrxfymgly mnocent rn the ways of the world He began to thmk ahead then and I recalled the mghts we planned planned his college education his life his life as a surgeon I saw Susie his best glrl and Tom walking down the street fun loving carefree on their way to the movies or to the corner drugstore for a coke But they couldn t foresee they didn t know no one did And how could I forget the night of December 7th when Tommy called to say he was enhstmg for actlve duty wlth the MHFIHCS7 Finally the last scene of this movie flashed up above It was the last day I saw hrm handsome and self confldent as a Marme lieutenant for he had gone to O C S because of his preliminary col lege trammg As I stood there at the statnon my cyes brrmmmg over with tears as he smiled down at me and w1ped them away I could still hear hrm saying Dont worry about me Mom Ill be o k ust keep the home fires burnmg w1th your love and I ll be back some day I ll be a surgeon and I ll marry Susie and-oh Mom Ill do everythmg we ve planned Keep praylng thats all And he was gone That s what I was remembering what I Ind to remember Id prayed prayed hard and last nlght I prayed hardest of all O Lord help me Gne me the courage the faxth the strength that I ll need ln these months to come when everythmg I do or say wlll be so 1m portant But I must get ready now I ve got to be at the station in tlme for Tommy s tram Yes Tommy IS comxng home for keeps w1th an honorable dis charge and the Purple Heart Tommy lost h1s arm hrs surgeon s arm on Guadalcanal 21 I , - . 1 7 Y . . . ' 7 1 1 . 1 ' I 7 I t . . . . . . . ' g U . , . . , . . A , , I 1 1 1 4 7 ! 2 . . ., . 1 - - 3 7 S 7 I . 9 ' . . 7 , ' . 1 Q I I 1 1 1 . . . , - V. . . . I , , , . 1 1 . 1 ' , one eye, beating noisily on his tiny toy drum . . . . U ' Q I ' 1 1 1 2 7 , , 6 ' It ! , l . . . . , , . . . A l J . . , . . . , 1 1 1 1 - . , , , , I . . . 1 ' I il 5 D ' . . , ' . . . - I ' ' , 4 . , ' n . . . . . . , , , . , It ' V , , , S0 , ' , , ' 7 ir 'A' 'A' 'A' ir ' ' , . ' 1 , .

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Illl IJ 14, S A hat, lllllm WNFR Xull WY LAZY DAY AGNES CADOGAN 44 ODAY IS a lazy day You gaze xdly out the wmdow thmkrng of xt Srster remxnds you of rt as she sees you there then murmurs somethmg about nts belng a good theme for an essay Or a poem you offer Professnonal prlde you thmk then subslde mto sllence remembermg that you aren t establxshed well enough rn the pro fessron to brag about lt You try to return to your book but 6nd yourself agam gazmg out the wmdow Sunshme plays ldly on the lawn kxssmg the baby rosebuds on a bush nearby Stately trees spread protectmg branches over the flowers clustered at their feet A bee suns rtself on the wrndow srll stretchlng 1ts wmgs lazrly Somethxng prompts you to look up Wh1te clouds play together in a Mary blue sky Lnke baby lambs your thoughts scramble and scurry along The hum of a motor drsturbs the seremty of your landscape A snlver plane rts wmgs spread males t1cally drones through the s The sunhght casts a shxmmery glitter on 1ts wmg Even lt seems to be lazy today you muse marvelhng at nts grace Some day you say to yourself youll fly a snlver plane You wonder rf youll be able to see the sunlxght on nts wmgs You look at the bee agarn It stretches lexsurely once more then lifts xts wmgs and floats away lt alrghts on a clox er blossom stays a moment then flxts to another nestlmg 1ts fuzzy head mto the blossom Today IS a lazy day Lazrness pokes nts funny head mto ex ery bxt of the day Your thoughts run along rn a lazy llttle stream somehow mergmg mto a beautxful togetherness at the end formmg a wonderful hymn God 15 here you smg to yourself Thank you God for everythmg The song drnfts mto a lazy endmg fadmg away mto nothlngness Exen you are lazy but of course thats not so odd Today IS a lazy day DREAMS A dreamer ha.r all of hu dream: Looked away In a theft o gold Where no other perfon try ar he may Can enler wzthout being told He ha.: hu dreamr all to hznzrel Locked up like the przcelefr thing Tha! any man ran call hz: own Whelher he be noble beggar or hzng MARY ELIZABETH ELAM 47 20 n Willy I . f 4 1' ' , if .ff , A A be th L l K '- 'l 1 -1 V 2 . a ' - ' ' L ,Y-f ge , . x , , 3 ...- 4 ' s ,yd E 1 - 1 l K ' . ff Arg , l .4 - ' , f -' u . o o s , a Y ' 5 ! ' . , . D 7 7 . . . . , .. ,, . . . . . . , . , . 7 7 ' , . . . . . . , 1 . . . Y . ' 7 3 3 7 , . ' 3 7 . . . . . . . . . ,, ,, . 9 ' 7 . . .. . ,, . . . , - - .. r - ,- ' Q A , , . a ' v . . . Y ' 3 7 . . . . , . , ' . , I 4 . - 1 f, , . , 7

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JU T A FLAG If It Womb Ir? GLORIA BOSAITS 44 I 4111 .fy mtl l il M A flyer way up rn the arr where rt s so free and glorrous where nothrng matters no law exceptrng that of God and nature I love to fly lrke to look down love to look up and rf I reach hrgh enough I can hear the angels srng I sard I lrke to look down guess Im more or less thrnkrng of the days before the war when I was just a student flyer lookrng down at the fields homes and lrttle people hustlrng around people I knew and loved When I was mad at the world Id hop rn my plane and scoff at these thrngs lrttle specks the war s taught me a lot those specks are rndr vrduals Every trme I release a bomb now rn the alren skres that I must fly I thrnk of that krd who for one moment could consrder them specks and pause for a prayer of forgrveness forgrveness for myself and those whom rt rs my fate to destroy I used to lrke to fly partrcularly oxer the ball park over our flag wavrng so proudly thrs thought keeps knockrng at my head when a mrssron rs tough You see that flag wavrng over the ball park rs what I m hghtrng for for the Hot Dog man for the lrttle krds sneakrng rn for that woman who pokes her husband at the most errcrtrng part of the game for that norsy catcher who tells the umprre to shut up for the excrted announcer and the bald headed man rn the fifth row who caught the ball for the Home Team Funny thrngs happen as you rrde above the world more queer thrngs when antr arrcraft tire rs poundrng at you many a trme back from a mrssron Id pass by that ball field and hear the people srngrng so proudly The Star Spangled Banner rn trrumph shall wave before the game so I d cry Arnt that my P1'1V1l6gC7 Sure Im a funny guy a tough Amerrcan and I love my flag I know my country arnt perfect crooked polrtrcrans graft prejudrce but when I thrnk of these curses I also thrnk of that world we re flghtrng for that wrll extrngursh them They re not Amerrca not what our flag stands for the rnvrncrble red whrte and blue uh uh they re clouds that keep the star spangled banner from comrng forth rn rts radrance Its agreed Im a funny guy but just one more thought those un Amerrcan Amerrcans can never stop our flag from wavrng over that ball park A flag rs a sacred emblem of the sprrrt of rts country and Im one guy who wants to see flags wavrng over ez ery country a symbol of beautrful thrngs lrfe freedom and happrness and over all those multr colored flags just lrke rarnbows a pot of gold the gurdrng one rts symbol a strarght cross of Chrrst -Af if if if me 1' me -A 1- at if -A- , Q 1 l , I i . ' . ' . F . ' lil . ' . . 15 A I 5 ' l ' . Xl 1 . ' . 1 . . . sliyllwjxwxs but most of all to keep that flag waving over the ball park! ' Ofiwy X . . - . t . . I 1 ' ' rf , . . ,, X? I fm . . ,, , . j ff X 9, . . u , t - . ' VI -Q . . , .