Chapter 40: Paul's First Day of School, with Larry in the Wings

Kindergarten, huh?

Looks like the lad standing at the front entrance to Whittier Elementary School in Great Falls, Montana, [same facility still in use] already has a few years of school under his belt.  By the third grade, I had grown so tall that a number of my classmates called me "Daddy". 

Full disclosure:  The first photo was taken on the day before the 1955-56 school year started.  I remember the one-block walk with Dad, the only time my parents ever accompanied me to or from school, even though I had to cross a very busy, though one-way, Second Avenue North.

At a very young age, Larry became a master of the impish, mischievous grin.  I'm not sure of the occasion for this portrait, although from the clothes he's wearing, the photo must have been taken on a Sunday.   And, upon closer observation, in late September or early October, as the leaves are just starting to turn color.   I think that's a 1952 Ford to Larry's left.

The brick building in the right background is the Demolay, whose original purpose was to serve as teen recreation center.  Childhood curiosity led me into the lobby a number of times.