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The Flipside: On This Day In (My) History
One week in the life of a 12-year-old. Photo courtesy of Tim Carroll.
By Tim Carroll
For all of the toys and clothes and albums I received from my parents as birthday gifts, I never would have guessed that my favorite is now a small black book.
The peculiar book had the days of the week but no dates, and embossed on the front cover was the word "Diary." Beginning in January of 1968, I filled in each day with a short sentence or two describing the day's activities. Unlike most diaries, there were very few personal thoughts, although I did admit that I hated math and Barbara Buchko's hair.
My mother gave me the book because she saw I was interested in writing. As always, Mom was on target. I enjoyed filling in the book so much that I was given a five-year diary the following Christmas. That book chronicles the daily activities of Timothy Carroll from 1969-1974. Together the books let me go back in time to almost any day from 7th grade to my first year of college.
It's not exactly prose, but it tells a story. I served an 8:45 a.m. mass as an altar boy in church, went to my friend Pal Gilroy's house for the afternoon and watched the Baltimore Colts earn a berth in the 1969 Super Bowl. To make this easier I will insert explanations along the way and offer a glimpse into that first diary.
For example, (12-31-68) Saw Yellow Submarine movie with Peter Kremer/ate dinner at Biviano's (family friends) for New Year's Eve. On New Year's Day I served the 12:30 mass/went to Ray Kenny's and played Batman and Twister.
With a few exceptions, the school week entries outline various homework, punishments or highlights. A phrase that comes up often is "punish lesson." The practice has fallen out of favor today but homework as punishment was common at St. Thomas the Apostle School, and I seemed to attract a large share of those assignments.
(1-3-69) Mrs. Bulmer gives us punish lesson; (1-6-69) Mrs. Donahue checks my homework every day now; (1-7-69) Donahue gives me punish lesson for not doing homework; (1-8-69) Mom makes me stay in after school cause of homework; (1-14-69) Granger and I got in trouble with Sr. Adrian (principal) for talking; and so on.
Boy Scouts were a big part of this 12-year-old's life. From the mundane "patrol meeting today/did auto safety merit badge" to the exciting "...lots of snow for the Klondike Derby," my years with the Scouts are well documented. Some great entries in April 1969 detail a scout bus trip to Washington D.C. Apparently we saw the Washington Monument, Mount Vernon, the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and Jefferson Memorial all in one day - wow!
Reading the first book carefully, I found a few details that I had forgotten over the years. I bet my friend Gary $1 on the Jets-Colts Super Bowl on Jan. 12 and lost. I also proclaimed that I liked Patrice and no longer Eileen. Years later, when Patrice (Keegan) and I were dating in high school, I wrote down every date she drove me on and every movie we saw and every restaurant we visited. In 1969, I was content to pass notes with codes like TPCEKP on the front. Texting would have been so much easier.
In the coming weeks, we will continue with the amazing story of this columnist. I think I will title it "The Altar Boy Who Couldn't Do His Homework" or "Love Struck Scout Strikes Out In Class."
Tim Carroll is director of public information for the Allen ISD. Reach him at tim_carroll@allenisd.org.
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