INCIDENT AT NAPER SCHOOL

Naper School located on Eagle Street is one of Naperville's original elementary schools.  I have several fond memories of attending this school.  Except one day in kindergarten back in 1955 things didn't go so well.

Each afternoon I walked six blocks back home.  I walked slowly, looking at all the trees and houses that I passed.  A few blocks from school was a nice, square-shaped red-bricked house on Jefferson Street.  This house was so neat and tidy I decided I'd like to have one like it when I grew up.  But the house that got my attention was a shabby, rundown single-story with peeling white paint and a long, skinny side porch.  On the porch and spilling onto the gravel driveway were a lot of children's toys:  overturned tricycles, a rusting wagon, and a mishmash of play dishes, dolls, trucks, and cars.  Each time I passed that house I wished I could meet the kids who lived there as it appeared they really knew how to have a good time.

Sometimes I skipped on my way home because I was a really good skipper.  Other times I played "Don't Step on a Crack or You'll Break Your Mother's Back."  The unofficial rule was that once you started playing that game, it really did count and you were responsible for your mother's wellbeing.  It appears I must have messed up because the next day I got in a whole lot of trouble at school.  "Kathy, will you stay after school please?"

One of the worst things about being a little kid was when adults asked you a question even though they didn't let you say no.  I frowned as I watched the other kids filing out the classroom door.  I never stayed after school before and I was scared.

Miss Bobson reached inside her long center desk drawer to bring out a safety pin, and she began pinning a note to the top of my dress, explaining I was to give it to my mother when I got home.  Terrified I had done something wrong, I left the school and headed home.  This time I didn't skip.  I didn't look or think about the trees or houses.  I brought up my hand to touch the note.   Hmmm.  If it fell off, then maybe I could postpone knowing what it said, maybe avoiding that forever!  I reached up and fumbled with it until I did, in fact, have it in my hand.  I scanned the street and the sidewalk, and when I didn't see any kids playing on their porch, I knew I was alone and tossed the note to the ground.  I remember feeling so much better that I might have even skipped the rest of the way home.

A residual guilt stayed with me.  Fifty years later I asked Mom about that note.

"The note from Miss Bobson?" she asked.

"Yes," I told Mom.  "I was so scared it said I did something wrong that I threw it away on the way home."

"Ohhhh, that's what happened to that note," Mom said.  "That was a recipe for barbeque."

KATHY KEROSON is the author of the two-book memoir series, "My Hometown - Naperville."  The public is invited to attend her Book Launch Open House on Sunday, April 27, 2014, from 1-4 p.m. at the Pre-Emption House at Naper Settlement, 523 S. Webster Street.  Free weekend parking in the upper deck of city hall.  The book launch is free, but there is an admission fee to enter Naper Settlement.  There will be book and tee-shirt sales, book signing, and an art gallery of old-time photos.  We hope to see you there!