I grew up in the shadow of the old St. Mary's Academy, living one block away. I was told years ago by a spouse of an old graduate that she had never seen people "so in love with an old building". Our class was a small one, with my brother's class behind me a large one. They required more room, and during my second grade year our classroom was on the top floor of the west wing of the building; it had the dormer windows. I remember the view of O'Neill and the many miles of beautiful landscape as

breathtaking--even on snowy days.

Living so close to the school, I knew many of the boarders. One of them had been in my class (2nd or 3rd) and was a brave and curious soul. After school one day, she took me down to the kitchen and we crawled into the dumb waiter where we pulled on the rope all the way to the nuns quarters. Of course, it was off limits---that made it more exciting.