I still have this strange feeling of wanting
to move back to Newark. Does anyone else ever feel like that? From
time to time I go down the the Newark Public Library to do family
research, walk around Military Park, have lunch at McGovern's -
still there after all these years - drive by the old neighborhood
on South Orange and 12th Street - most of it like a war zone now,
visit my parents grave at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, get high blood
pressure thinking of how the city is ruined, and then still wish
I was living there again. Am I nuts or what?
Many times when my mother didn't have enough money I was sent
over to my friends mothers to borrow some money. Also, at the local
butcher store you didn't have to pay right away. He marked it "in
the book" till payday. Try to do that today.
One of the little secret's about Newark is the very old Dominican
Convent on the corner of 10th Street and 13th Avenue. Here, these
nuns have stepped out of the world and live in a cloister setting.
When I was an altar boy for St. Antoninus back in the 1940's I used
to have to get up very early in the mornings to be at Mass here
at 6am. There is a beautiful little chapel here which is still open
to the public. The neighborhood is not so great any longer, but
if you are looking for a little peace and quiet, check it out.
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