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DOCUMENTS AND PHOTOS - PAGE 3
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 I received from my uncle Ivo this elaborate and colourful card for my first communion. Through clear visual depiction, it shows the power and sanctity of the bishop. I have a long-standing fascination with various aspects of the Roman Catholic Church. The rituals in particular were compelling, and I understood even then in a rudimentary way that this was one way for humans to transcend the division between the physical and the metaphysical.
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 I am pictured here, age 7, with a great old radio my father had gotten years earlier. It was a well-made German model with good sound and reception, that also had shortwave capabilities. A few years after this, I strung a wire out to our backyard, and was able to receive transmissions VHF from as far away as Detroit, and shortwave even further than that.
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 Nature and wildlife have been enduring interests of mine. Growing up in a large city, I did not have many chances to explore the natural domain. We would often go to farms and zoos, where I would try to learn about the different facets of nature. Here, I am seen tentatively petting a small docile deer, probably at the Bronx Zoo. It was taken during a very hot day in the summer.
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 In contrast to the stifling summers in New York, the winters could be difficult as well. This was taken outside the apartment house we had recently moved into, just after a snowstorm. Although this was a major street, there was at that time much less traffic, so many streets were generally safe to play on. As a resident of a large metropolis, as a child, my parents did not allow me to venture outside the block on which we lived.
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 My report card from Ascension Catholic School for 2nd grade, age 7. One can note that the school was actually part of the Diocese of Brooklyn, although it was located in Queens. We were graded every quarter. I was an attentive student, but found certain areas a little difficult. It is a little surprising that young children were graded in so many areas, in both academics as well as in personality. As I continued in school, I did very well in spelling, English, Religion, Mathematics, Science, Geography, History. I was so good in spelling, that one year I was entered in a spelling contest, only to fail on the first word they gave me! I also received good grades for conduct, work habits, neatness, effort. Getting along with others was only slightly more difficult. This is my 4th grade report card, from Ascension Catholic school, age 9, where I received four gold stars.
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 This is a rare picture, showing my parents, aunts and uncle, with myself and my friends from the neighbourhood. It was at my 10th birthday party, in our house in Jackson Heights. The boy in the foreground is Vito, who was my age. His brother, Dominic, to my left, was older. I realise that in my earlier birthdays, when I lived in an apartment house, I had more friends, and quite of number of girls as friends too. Living in this house my array of pals was more limited, although the overall environment more conducive.
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 This is my fifth grade class picture. Every year when I was in public school they took class pictures. The American flag hung behind us, for reasons I am not sure, except that there needed to be a backdrop of some kind to cover up the drab wall at the gymnasium, and our school evidently did not have its own banner. Patriotism was not particularly forced upon us, but it did appear at official events.
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