Every year at the beginning of school we would go through pretty much the same rituals, if they can be called that. It started in early August when we each sat down with Mom and went through the Sears Catalog with her and we ordered our school clothes for that year. A week or so later she would go pick up her huge order. She came home from Sears and we’d all go crazy trying things on. If something didn’t quite fit she’d put it in a pile for returning it and getting the right size or right color. She made sure that we thanked Dad when he got home from work for paying for it.
The night before the first day of school Dad took us each into his room where Mom was waiting and he laid his hands on our heads and gave us a father’s blessing by authority of the Priesthood. He used to do the school blessings with us all in the same room, but that only caused us to get the giggles and the spiritual nature of the blessings made it so we shouldn’t have been giggling.
Then the first day of school arrived. We all dressed in our new clothes. That morning we’d assemble in the living room for scriptures and prayers. Mom would fix an extra hearty breakfast and then we’d be off. Vera and I would leave first for the bus to take us the two miles to junior high. Dad was there with his camera to take our pictures on that first day. And then we walked just down the street to our bus stop. When the younger children left for elementary school which was only a block away, Dad took their pictures as well. Christopher and Johnny stayed at home with Mom of course, since they weren’t old enough to go to school. And Dad went to work as soon as his picture taking duties were done.
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