When I was old enough to be an alter boy I asked if I could join. My friends were accepted and I was turned down and instead they made me a patrol boy. My big job was to safely get kindergartners and first graders across a busy street. We had 2 parish priests, one was fun to be with and a bit of a ladies man. We figured that out as we became of age. The other was angry most of the time and as little ones we were scared of him. He was my second cousin. I remember telling my mother that I get nervous around him, lot's of kids did. He could be violent but as kids we thought that was a justifiable option. My mother sent me to my grandmother who told me that as kids he was called Fat Little Andy. I think Fat Little Andy blackballed me from being an Alter Boy. The nun told me that I wasn't very good in English and not bright enough to be an Alter Boy. I just wanted to get out of class for funerals and make tips, just like my friends. Maybe they knew. I also could make my friends break up when they were supposed to be quiet. Maybe that was it. I never heard of anything improper in my Parish but still wonder why I was excluded. As kids we did live in fear more then respect for the clergy.
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