I remember my first day of school as if
it were yesterday. It was Sept. 1948 when I entered Ivy Street School's
morning kindergarten class. My teachers were Mrs. Elizabeth Carley
and Ms. Pearl Lux. Each day, we began with a song "Good Morning
to You, Good Morning to you. We're all in our places with sun-shiny
faces. And this is the way we start off each day!"
Years passed, and occasionally I would think back to those days
at Ivy Street School, and try to remember some of my classmates
and teachers.
One day in the middle of July, 1987, on a Tuesday evening, I was
in my living room with my then 16 month-old son Daniel. I was sitting
on the piano bench, and Daniel was happily banging on the piano
keys. I started to play the "Good Morning to You" song
for him, even though I had not thought about it in years.
Two days later, (Thursday) when I arrived at my office, I opened
up the Newark Star-Ledger, and when I got to the obituary page,
there was a story about Mrs. Carley. She had died at Brick Hospital
on Tuesday evening at the age of 87. Ironically, she spent her last
days in Toms River, where I have lived since 1972. I never ran into
her in all that time, but somehow I thought of her the very evening
she passed away. I realize that this is probably only coincidence,
but I guess I will never know.
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