ORAL HISTORY

Do you have fundraising activities here at Apache School where you have order forms for selling candy, wrapping paper, cookie dough, candles or all of the above? It always seemed strange to me that school children have to go door to door to earn money for their school. Doesn't this seem like a form of child labor? Does NASA Space Program have to go door to door asking for money to send a astronauts to the moon? When I see a fundraising form, it reminds me of an experience I once had when I was in the second grade at St. Benedict Elementary School.

It was during the time of St. Benedict's schoolwide Christmas Fundraiser. We had one at Easter, too. This time it was candy-hard candy, chocolate candy, candy bars, candy in tins, candy in small boxes, medium size boxes and large boxes; chocolates with nuts, chocolates with caramel, chocolates with caramel and nuts, caramels without chocolate, chocolate covered raisins, chocolate covered pretzels. I was in candy heaven just looking at all the candy selections. On Friday we were given our order forms to sell candy in our neighborhood and to friends and family. When I got home, I told my mom about the candy fundraiser and the form sister gave us. My mother said she would look at it later. I put my bookbag in my room and promptly forgot all about it when I went to play after a long week at school.

Miss Dorothy, a good friend of our family's, stopped by on Saturday for a visit and while she and my mother were talking, she sent me up to my room to get my 'slip'.  Obediently, I responded and as I was walking up the steps to my room, I wondered to myself, "What slip?" and "Why does Miss Dorothy need my slip?"

I went straight to my dresser drawer and was looking through my collection of slips when more doubt came over me. Does she want a good slip or just an ordinary, everyday slip? Does she want a colorful one or a white one? I decided to look in my older sisters' dresser drawers for a better selection. Maybe I should bring down a couple of choices so Miss Dorothy can choose among them. Should I model them for her to be able to make a better decision? No, too embarrassing, I thought.

Deep in thought about what to do and still confused about why Miss Dorothy would want my slip, my mother called up to me asking, "What was taking me so long? The pressure was on now; a decision had to be made. So I descended the stairs holding a white slip that I thought would be the best one to at least offer Miss Dorothy. We'd do from there. She would tell me what she had in mind if this wasn't suitable.

When I handed my mother the white slip, she asked in her rather direct and honest way, "What the samhill is this?" I said, "The slip you wanted for Miss Dorothy." "Oh, now you tell me; you wanted my CANDY SLIP? Well, why didn't you say that in the beginning?" You could have saved me a lot of time and trouble going through all those slips and having to explain later to my older sister Jeanette about why I was digging around in her dresser drawers.

Miss Dorothy eventually filled out my candy slip and I sat there, with my head hanging low staring at my slippers! When she was ready to leave, she said quietly, "that was quite a nice slip you had". As I walked back upstairs with my slip in hand to put back in my bureau, I wondered anew, what exactly did she mean by that? Was it a slip cover-up, where Miss Dorothy was trying to smooth over my slip-up? I let it slip by as I heard my older sister complaining to my mother about my slipping into her dresser drawers without her permission. I could slip her some candy to keep her quiet-if I had some. This was a slippery slip up that I promised I would slip not again! I let is slip away from my memory until I saw that candy slip!

________This is my story and I'm slipping to it!______

Frances Vitali

Nov. 13, 2008