by vulcanjedi

Created on: April 24, 2008

I almost became a priest!

Towards the end of 7th grade we were told to start thinking about what high school we wanted to go to. It was the first time the idea of graduating grade school came up. We had people from Roman and Hallahan come in and talk about the schools. They said some schools filled up early so they recommended signing up before 8th grade started. I had my mind on other things at the time and didn't give it much thought.

This story picks up where my first crush left off in June 1974. For the prior two years I had gone to Daisy Day Camp for a couple of weeks in the summer. But this year I had signed up for a two week camp up on Lake Ontario that was run by the brothers of the sacred heart. They had a school up near Allentown and they were among the recruiting high schools that had visited us 7th graders. I had been an alter boy since 4th grade and it seemed ok to go to a religious camp. I was really into fishing at the time and the idea of fishing Lake Ontario was excellent. Two weeks away from home. First time I had ever been away for more than a long weekend. It turned out to be a fantastic two weeks. The camp was right on the lake and near Watertown NY. Since it was a religious camp there was some time set aside for spiritual activity and daily masses. But unlike some of the stuffy priests I knew, the brothers were younger and pretty cool. They tried explaining Secular life but all I remember was it was different from regular priests. At the time I was still a bit confused about those feelings I had about girls. What started when thinking about Theresa while waiting for summer could happen with other girls right? Not to mention guys repeating stuff about sex that they heard from older brothers. No way people did that stuff for real. Kissing might be ok but touching tongues? Yuck! Finally camp was over and I flew home as an unaccompanied minor.

Later that summer a priest from the sacred heart school came to my house to talk about the school programs. That weekend we were invited up there. All I remember was the pool and it was near mountains and a lake and it almost seemed like a year long camp. One downside was the boarding school aspect, only coming home once in a while on weekends because it was an hour away. My parents liked it as a better education for less money and I found myself enrolled in a seminary high school. After all, even if I didn't go on to become a priest I still had to go to some high school.

Eighth Grade started off normally.

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