Jim Adams. He seemeded like a real person, in spite of being a priest -- I liked his sense of humor and his ability to relate to high school boys. He visited my parents and me one evening before I graduated and left for Childs, and I was surprised how much beer he could pack away that night. Here was a real man! And a priest as well! Altho I was homesick for my first three months at Childs, I got over it after the first visit from my parents and sister in November. Some time after that, I began to suspect that I would be better suited as an Oblate brother, instead of a cleric.
How could it be wrong? The only thing I hated about Childs was my temporary assignment to help Bro. Actually, it was those stupid, smelly, noisy chickens that I hated, but Fr. Conmy, in his wisdom, mercy and grace of state, promptly took me off the job and replaced me with Ed Pikarsky. As far as I know, Ed never complained. The following year, I was assigned to keep Fr. Well, there was one other thing I hated. My despised nemesis, Jack Murray, bestowed on me a certain nickname which I disliked from the beginning and which I shall not dare repeat.
Jack and I shared no mutual affection whatsoever, and I thought I had left bullying behind in high school, but somehow I ended up on his waiting and dish crew. But I patiently endured the nickname, and eventually both Jack and the nickname disappeared into history until Frank DeMilde just happened to remind me of it recently! My two years teaching as a scholastic at Salesianum were undistinguished.
In retrospect, while I felt an affinity for teaching, I was uncomfortable dealing with the dynamics of a real classroom full of marginally interested students; in fact, it was around that time that I began losing my hair and developing bags under my eyes. I had similar unsatisfactory experiences at St. Francis in Toledo after ordination, and later at St.
It was then that I initially decided it would be a wise idea to abandon the teaching profession and do something less stressful, like, maybe But it was also at the same time that I decided to leave the priesthood too. Mike Donovan and Ron Kotz helped me learn basic guitar chords, and that helped to integrate me into some community activities, but I never did become a very good guitarist!
