Three Weeks, a Lie

John Gaudioso

Description

My brothers Al, Bob, and I witnessed our mom carried and dragged past us by men in white as we huddled against our living room wall. Dad arranged for Mom to be confined to a mental facility. He didn't bother considering to soften our confusion by explaining Mom was sick or where she was being taken. Shortly afterward, Dad had us transferred to a "special school" for three weeks. Actually, we were transferred to an orphanage. Again, he didn't bother preparing us for what was ahead of us; the least of which was the absence of family influences. Our mom endured eleven years in a mental facility. We endured eight and a half years in an orphanage. As if that wasn't enough, Dad followed up a few years later telling us that Mom was gone. A lie. What would prompt any father, for no known reason, to elect to separate a family without explanation for his actions? Years of silence from him and family members failed to provide reasons other than "self-serving" on his part. The years separating Mom from us took its toll on the four of us. Separation, isolation, guilt, anger, loneliness, and adjustment were new experiences for the four of us to deal with.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Memoir

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Date de parution: 31 août 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781645368748
• Langue: English

Extrait

Three Weeks, a Lie
My Memoir
John Gaudioso
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-08-31
Three Weeks, a Lie About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgment Prologue Men in White Chapter One Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 1943–1947 A Few Good Years Neighborhood Backyard Activities Family Activities Telling Time Fighting the Japanese Sundays with Dad and Mom Garden Discovery Locked ‘In’! Mom’s Italian Gravy Sunday Meals with Family Relatives Sunday Walks Along Flatbush Avenue Leftovers Ice Cream My Treat! Playground Ice Cream Snack with Dad and Mom Al’s Nailed Down Bed Springs Al’s Nose Job Crayon Incident On the Steps with Dad Sledding with Dad Prospect Park Lake Swimming Lessons Al’s ‘Almost’ Baseball Glove Purchase Submarine Scrap Man Scooter The Girl They finally tired of my answers. Visiting Santa Christmas Tree Shopping with Dad Christmas Morning Christmas Presents Singing Christmas Carols with Dad Penny’s ‘Not So’ Christmas Saint Jerome School 1944 Covering School Books School Lunch Mom’s Sandwiches The Zipper School Fight Lunch at Woolworths Sister Principal Meets Dad! School Doodling Arithmetic Tables Spelling Ink Well Opportunities Altar Boy vs. Torch Boy Playing Hooky A Shortcut Home From School Kitchen Fire Radiator Burst An Unusual Supper Neighborhood Butcher The Heist Happy Thanksgiving Moms on a Mission Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, and Trigger Dad and Mom Dancing with Al – Really! A Rose for Mom Al’s Peanut Adventure Impetigo! Tar Beach The Rooftop Saturday Chores Saturday Night’s Baths Gotta Go Penny vs. Resident Mice Money Opportunities Dipping for Coins Saturday Activities Continuing Saturday’s Activities Flipping Baseball Cards Broken Nose A Few Good Years Were Coming to an End Babysitters Photographs Dad’s Profile He had the Gift Leaving Flatbush Bob’s Car Sick – ‘Again’ Grandpa and Grandma Sleeping Assignments Shoe Box At Grandpa and Grandma’s Roof Climber Afterschool Treats A Dirty River YMCA Big Red Street Fight Man Who Lugs Lumber! Saint Thomas Aquinas The weeks of summer passed. Sports Racing Activities The Final Move Dad and Rosalie? The Red-Brick Building Missed Clues! Goodbyes Uncles and Aunts Chapter Two Mount Loretto Mr. Butler, Aka Mr. B Arrival at The Mount Sisters in White Mr. O’Connor Aka Mr. O. Weekly Clothing Change Tony the Shoemaker Fifth Cottage Candy Store Stories and Songs Froggy Incident Nights Jesus Bed Wetters Cleaning Crews A Special Invitation? Dining Hall Dining-Table Protocol Meals varied by days of the week. New Boy Indoctrination Synonyms Sly Fox Summers Bathrooms Showers and Wash up Areas Showers Night Time Wash Ups Dad’s First Visit In Between Dad’s Visits Holiday Home Visits Christmas New York Telephone Ladies A Close Call Basketball Cottage Games Downhill ‘In Line’ Roller Skating Busted Intramural Sports Al Bob John Christmas Nativity Manger Baseball with Dad… Again! Three Weeks No Longer an Issue Visits New Kid Adjustments Aunt Dolly! “Mom” “Photos” Schooling The Mount Transferred to the Big Side Saint Joseph Trade School Al’s recollections Additional Examples of Prejudice My Turn Butcher Shop Mr. Mulligan Stew Meat Gutting Chickens Chicken George George Again! Bakery Shop Inventory Taking a Risk! Bartering Poison Ivy Farming, Barno’s and Bob Farming was introduced to The Mount in its early years. Bob Meets Bull Fighting I could hear ice cracking under my feet. Water Rats Payback! Basketball Football Over-Matched Mount Loretto Travel Teams Girls Friday Night Dances Dipping and Smoking Last Dance Iris Messages Chapter Three Mom Is Alive Meeting Mom Mom Leaving The Mount Here We Go Again Reconnecting Aunt Dolly Moving Out and About Mom’s Quest for Independence 1961 – 1964 Adjustments Again! Mom’s Request Hospital Recommendations Compassionate Honorable Discharge Entering Uncharted Waters August 23, 1963 Arrival In the Interim Bob and Rose Marie’s Wedding Mom Wasn’t Right! Overtime Monthly Care Visits A Turning Point Dad Visits Mom Mom Passed Away Epilogue Post Years John, Bob, and Al Al Education Career Interests Theatre, Opera, Ballet, Plays, Gardening, Family John Education Career Family Bob Education Career Family
About the Author

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John Gaudioso’s first venture into publishing has produced three children’s stories. Smoky, Smoky’s Adventure, and Smoky to the Rescue . Under current development is his latest in the Smoky series, titled, Uptown – Not.
Three Weeks, a Lie is his memoir; an autobiography. It provides detailed recollections, entombed for years, in deep recesses of John’s mind. Myriad adjustments, memories, and recollections of his past often tormenting, distracting, and affecting family, friendships, and careers, amplifies remarkable courage and resilience experienced by a mother and her three children throughout their years of isolation, loneliness, and confusion.
Dedication
Dedicated
to
mom,
Al, and Bob
Copyright Information ©
John Gaudioso (2020)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher and/or author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of creative nonfiction. The events are portrayed to the best of author’s memory. While all the stories in this book are true, some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.
Ordering Information:
Quantity sales: special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Gaudioso, John
Three Weeks, a Lie
ISBN 9781645362869 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781645362876 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781645368748 (ePub e-book)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020912799
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
40 Wall Street, 28th Floor
New York, NY 10005
USA
[e-mail]
[phone]
Acknowledgment
Al and Bob
No doubt, wondering—John’s writing a memoir!
My fear
Had I not written it
It would remain buried in a deep recess of my mind.
Their inputs, encouragements, and patience
made My Memoir a reality.
Nevertheless, I take full responsibility for the enclosed contents, recorded to the best of my recollections.
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MOM
Anna Rose Gaudioso
Prologue

Men in White
The year was 1947. Al was eight years old. I was seven years old. Bob was five and a half years old. Unfortunately, I’m the only one of us to clearly recall the intrusion by the Men in White.
They entered our apartment. They were in our hallway, heading toward our kitchen. Dad was expecting them. Mom didn’t have a clue!
I heard Mom’s voice. “Who are you?” “What’s going on?” “Why are they here, Dominic?” None of it was making sense to me. Al, Bob, and I hugged close to each other, against our living room wall. Al has a vague memory of the intrusion. Bob has no recollection of it. Unfortunately, I remember it all too well. After all, we had ringside seats.
The Men in White reappeared. They were dragging Mom through our narrow hallway. Mom’s cursing filled the air. “Dominic, stop them.” She begged the Men in White to let her go. She called out for us. “Dominic, where are my babies?” Mom argued and yelled repeatedly, “Let me go. Where are you taking me? Who are you?” Her cries and yelling filled the apartment as she was dragged away by the Men in White. She cursed Dad.
Mom was angry and frightened. She was no match for the Men in White. Dad followed behind as Mom was dragged, half carried, out of our apartment, in full view of us. Dad didn’t look in our direction. “What the hell.”
Did anyone realize we were in the living room? Dad had to know. Of course, he had to know. Who else could have positioned us up against our living room wall? Were we part of this scenario? Was our presence supposed to make Mom cooperative?
Mom looked in our direction. We locked eyes. Tears flowed down her face. Her eyes were wide, filled with fear. It is a moment that remains etched into my mind to this day. The Men in White and Mom were out of our apartment. She was transferred to Brooklyn’s Bellevue Hospital to a mental ward. I was confused.
It wasn’t over. Within several weeks, Dad arranged for Al, Bob, and me to be transferred to an orphanage, under the guise of being transferred to a Special School. Mom and the three of us, Al, Bob, and me, were separated from each other. Mom was gone from us. We were gone from Mom.
What happened to our family?
Chapter One

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Mom, Dad, John, Bob, and Al
Brooklyn, New York, 1946
Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 1943–1947

A Few Good Years
Ah, we were a family then. Dad, Mom, Al, Bob, and me. We lived in an apartment at 1533 Flatbush Avenue, close to where Flatbush and Norstand avenues intersected each other.

Neighborhood
Our apartment was located on the second floor of a two-storied building. A hallway separated the entrance to our apartment and our playroom aka, our boy-cave. Our playroom was at the end of a hallway across from the main entrance to our apartment. Hours, surrounded with collections of toys, comic books, baseball cards, baseball gloves, bats, and balls; you name it, we had it all. Most times the doors to our playroom and apartment were left open. Dad whistled from within our apartment when we were called for supper, baths, bedtime, or in general.
A small bathroom was located on the left wall as you entered our apartment. Pas