For anyone who attended Catholic school in the 1950s, you know it was just about now that the pictures you had crayoned for Thanksgiving came down in the classroom. Our turkeys, one scratched out by each of us, had served their purpose. The life expectancy for turkey pictures was about one week, the same as O-Little-Town-of-Bethlehem pictures.

For two reasons, Sister, our teacher, took them down herself. One, she had put them up; two, she was heads above us in height. Perched on a short stool kicked along as she progressed, Sister read a name aloud, and a picture swung down and was plucked from her hand. Of course, everyone knew their own turkey. Anticipating Sister’s words, we were already on the move before our names were called.

Moving to her right, Sister began just to the right of the door at the front of the classroom, removing pictures along the corkboard above the blackboard. Then to the sidewall, all along its length to where the wall met with our lockers at the back of the room. No pictures ever hung........

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