Here are some further conversations with my Dad. Remember, my Dad was a depression era born baby. Born June 20, 1929 much of his childhood was formed in those times. By todays standard, I would like to think that things would be different.
My Dads stories are quite interesting but they really never hinge around the theme, “You don't know how good you have it.” My Dad's theme usually is, “I was a child, and I didn't know anything else.” Sometimes the naiveness of a child is a gift from God.
When I was around 10 the State Board came and took me away from Mrs. Dowdie. At the time she was getting older and I believe was having some psychological problems. They took me out of the Lakewood and placed me in Bayonne, NJ. The families name was Fitzgibbons. The really great thing is they reunited me with two of my brothers, Bob and Joe.
The Fitzgibbons were an Irish family. They had two children. They were using the three of us more as an act of convenience than an act of kindness. We stayed in a single bedroom, the three brothers, in a bed with a straw mattress. This was particularly bad, because my brother Bob wet the bed every night. The straw would absorb the urine and of course the room would smell.
Our meals consisted of soup that Mrs. Fitzgibbons would make in the beginning of the week. She would serve this soup to the three of us all week. By the end of the week the soup would be sour. You weren't allowed to complain or say anything because it was met with severe beating by the husband. I remember my brother Joe getting beat really bad one night. I stepped in the middle to protect my brother and Mr. Fitzgibbon turned on me. He beat me really bad. I really hurt my hands and forearms because I was holding them up to protect my face. He beat me so bad, my brothers had to help me dress for school the next day.
We attended Catholic School. I went to class and my arms and hands were so swollen I could not hold a pencil. One of the nuns began to yell at me about not getting any work done. Then she noticed how injured I was. She sent me to the office. Arriving at the office I remember there was a young nun there. She had great compassion for me. She bathed my arms in water and dressed all of my wounds. There were more occurrences with the Fitzgibbons. Too many to list, we were beat regularly and at the time it was just one of the things that came with life.
My brother Bob was quite an interesting character. He was a born thief. He always was “finding something“. One summer I got a job stocking shelves at the corner market. I would stock the shelves and carry stuff up fromt he basement. It payed 25 cents a week. I thought it was a terrific job. Then one day I got a better job working down by the ferry taking tolls. It payed One Dollar a week. My Brother Bob took my job at the corner market. Without knowing it they made the biggest mistake of their business career. Bob stole quite a bit from them. Looking back, it was Bob who kept us from starving. The Fitzgibbons hardly fed us and Bob, many times would come home with pockets filled with food. Cookies, etc. At night we would lay in our bed...and Joe and I in the dark would say,”hey Bob, can we have another?” This was done knowing that Bob would always concede if he had more to share. He might have been a thief, but he was our brother first. I guess he felt quite responsible for all of us.
Well, Bob working at the corner market.....he would go into the basement, there was an open window and he would unlatch it. It is there that he would store his stash sitting on a shelf by the window. At night he would come back and plunder all the contents by the window. It may be a few boxes of cookies or candy but he always shared with us. Many times Bob would take stuff that had no value. I never knew what he saw in a lot of stuff that he took, some of it was useless. I think it just came down to the fact...that he could take it.
Bob loved to fish. Often we would fish with a stick and a clothespin as a hook. I don't think we ever caught anything. One day...Bob comes home with this big overcoat on. He takes off the overcoat and wrapped around his belly was an entire fishing rod and real. He got quite a bit of use out of that rod fishing in Bayonne.
My job at the Ferry payed One dollar a week. Mrs. Fitzgibbons told me to give her the money and she would save it for me. I worked the whole summer at the ferry collecting tolls. One day I come home...and the State Board is there with my Mother. She came to collect us all. We were to be reunited as a family. It is here that I go to Jersey City. That same week I am reunited with my brother Steve. He was a tough guy. Nobody messed with Steve. Steve found out about my job and wondered what happened to my money. I told him Mrs. Fitzgibbons had it. I also told him about how the Fitzgibbons had treated myself, Joe and Bob. As soon as I said all of this...Steve had us on a bus and returning to Bayonne.
We got to Bayonne and quickly went to the Fitzgibbons. Steve banged on the door and when it opened Steve forced his way into the house. He was only 17 but the Fitzgibbons were very afraid. He made it clear he was not happy how they treated me and he wanted the money she was saving for me. Mrs. Fitzgibbons countered that I cost her a lot of money and she spent it all on things that I used and broke. They didn't have any money to give us...and I know...they were quite glad when we finally left. We returned to Jersey City but I had some satisfaction of seeing the Fitzgibbons scared out of their minds. Today, these people would never be allowed to have any children. At least I like to think that.