My Dad

My Dad

Philadelphia, PA

1960

This is my dad and mother and two siblings.  I think he was being sworn in as an Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia.

Our Kitchen 1964

 Our Kitchen Table

Philadelphia, PA

1964

There were six kids at this time. Six years later, another kid would arrive.  We all sat in the booth and my paretns sat in the two chairs.  I think we had this setup for another two years and then my parents bought a big wooden table with two long benchs and my father sat in a chair at the end, on the left.  My mom sat on the end of the bench, of the left so she could get to the stove if necessary. We sat, as a family, at that table for the next thirty years.

Hanging On The Front Porch

Hanging on the Front Porch

Our House

Philly

1994

We spent hours on this porch. We opened up our proch season around March or April every year and we closed up this gathering place around mid to late October. Mostly we sat out here in the eveinings, after dinner.  Someone would make tea and we would gather togther even though we had just spent the last hour at the dinner table. Sometimes, neighbors would wander by and they would come up and join us.  Sometimes, our next door neighbors were out on thier porch and we would shout out short conversations to them.

We would stay out there until it got too dark or the bugs got too bad.

When my mother died, my firned told me that she will miss the tea on the porch, the most.  And that's what I also miss the most.

My Niece's View: Philly

 This is her rooftop and I love to sit up here in the early evening in the spring or summer and drink beer, enjoy the evening breeze and take pleasure in the conversations with my family. I have hinted several times to be invited to come up here and watch the fireworks on the 4th of July. But in the three years that she has lived there, no invitaiton has been forthcoming.  I may have to just show up one year. I'm sure she will answer the door and let me in.

Bloomsday

Bloomsday

A Tribute to James Joyce

The Rosenbach Museum

Philadelphia, PA

June 16, 2024

It was a perfect day for this event, maybe a bit too hot and sunny but it was great to be outdoors on this beautiful day.  Each year, this museum pays tribute to Jame Joyce's novel, Ulysses.  The museum is in possession of the original manuscript and various high-brows in the city sign up to read a few pages from the novel and by the end of the day, most of the book has been read out loud to the general public. And the audience sits, mostly silently, and listens with enthusiasm or until they finally have had enough of listening to a confusing story. The museum is also opened and two pages of the hand written manuscript is all display for everyone to read.

There was a beer garden so we went there for a delicious beer. Once seated in the shade, I found that I was particularly drawn to people watching as a crowd of individuals showed up that doesn't usually hang in my circle. There were people who were proudly dressed to look like James Joyce. Many people were well dressed for the event. Some came with their individual copy of the book and read along. There were too many dogs, panting and sitting under chairs. and the heat was too oppressive for them. Older people tended to have umbrellas that they used to shield from from the sun. And after two hours, I was finished with the event and I went home.

 

Student Comment #59

 Student comment #59

• D G P (She/Her) 

  1st degree connection· 1st

  School Leader of , Philadelphia School District
• JUN 17, 2023Danielle Gibson Potere sent the following message at 8:53 AM
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  D G P (She/Her)  8:53 AM

  Dr Kelly How amazing to see you here on Linkedin!  Your list of jobs and accomplishments looks seriously amazing!  I am not sure if you are still working but I do know that we'd align on many things as I have been teaching and working in Philadelphia School District among other things for the past 13 years.  I would love to know if I could get involved in anything you're doing!  Please don't hesitate to get in touch! Danielle

• JUN 29, 2023Bridget E. Kelly, DEd sent the following messages at 7:07 PM
  View Bridget E.’s profile

  Bridget E. Kelly, DEd (She/Her)  7:07 PM

  https://www.instagram.com/reel/CuCeMe7g-TH/?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA==

  

  CARE on Instagram: "🍛🥘🍲 500 unique ingredients. 197 different countries. 1 critical mission. For the past two years, @bergershot has cooked the national dish of every country in the world to raise awareness of the global #hunger crisis facing millions. And that includes many rice dishes 🍚 We can’t name a favorite – can you?! Drop a flag in the comments to let share which country you think make

  instagram.com
• View Bridget E.’s profile

  Bridget E. Kelly, DEd (She/Her)  7:12 PM

  I am involved with this group. Dan is our Philly coordinator. If you would like, I can connect you to him.

• JUL 17, 2023Danielle Gibson Potere sent the following messages at 8:55 PM
  View Danielle’s profile
  

  D G P (She/Her)  8:55 PM

  That would be great

• TODAY
  View Danielle’s profile
  

  D G P (She/Her)  8:32 PM

  I know I haven't followed up in quite a while. But I'd still love to connect and get more info. 

  

1969

1969
Woodbine Avenue

Overbrook

Philadelphia, PA

My age: 13-14

School- Merion Mercy Academy- 9^th grade.  I was assigned to the second rooster.  We were the weak academic students. School was a huge burden to me.  But my social life was picking up.  So all was not lost.

Work- I would baby sit for one night and to out and play with my friends on the other weekend night. I made a lousy $1/hour.  I hated this work.

music

Movies

Paint Your Wagon- I saw it with my family

Alice's Restaurant- I wasn't allowed to see it.

Midnight Cowboys- I wasn't allowed to see it.

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium- I saw it with m family.  This movie fed my wanderlust for travel.

They Shoot Horse, Dont They- I know I saw this movie but I know I didn't understand all of it.

Easy Rider- I wasn't allowed to see it.

Butch Cassidy- I wasn't allowed to see it.

Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice- I wasn't allowed to see it.

I'm Curious Yellow- I wasn't allowed to see it.

Books- We read Greek Mythology in class and I liked it. We also read Shakespeare and I thought he was dreadful. I hated reading Romeo and Juliet but I loved the movie that came out a few years later.

We also read:

• Our Town
• House of Seven Gables
• To Kill A Mockingbird

Travels- Long Beach Island, NJ during the summer months.  My uncle had a home here and I would go there to visit with my cousin.

News Events-

• We walk on the moon.  I watched the event at my aunt’s house at the beach.  We sat around the small TV and listened and clapped as Neil Armstrong announced, “One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.”  I was so damn proud of our country.
• Race riots burdened our country.  I did not understand the complexities of this situation.

Family

• July-I got an FM radio for my birthday and the whole musical world opened up to me.
• July- I had a seizure, my second seizure in 10 months.  My parents handled this event with much more calmness as compared to the first one. I never had another seizure and no conclusion was ever determined as to why I had these two seizures.  But I stayed on medication until I was 18.
• oSeptember- my mother announced that she was pregnant.  Her last pregnancy was 11 years ago so she was shocked.  I was shocked that my parents were having sex.  It was a gross realization.

1968

1968
Woodbine Avenue

Overbrook

Philadelphia, PA

My age: 12- 13

School- Merion Mercy Academy- 8^th grade.  I hated school. I had lots of academic failure. And I wasn't comfortable being around some many of my rich classmates.  I couldn't compete with their bragging about their social status.

Work: - I began to babysit for the neighbors. Sometimes I would have five or six kids under my charge. I was paid $1/hour.  It seemed like a fortune to me.

Movies

• The Graduate 
• Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - this movie was very controversial.
• Bonnie and Clyde 
• Valley of the Dolls 
• The Odd Couple 
• Planet of the Apes - I never watched this movie.
• Rosemary's Baby- the Catholic Church banned this movie.  I watched it for the first time a few years ago and today, it seems ridiculous. 

Music

• The Rolling Stones 
• The Supremes 
• The Beatles with -- " Hey Jude " 
• Aretha Franklin 
• Gary Puckett and The Union Gap 
• The Grateful Dead 
• The Monkees 
• Simon and Garfunkel -- " Mrs Robinson " 
• The Beach Boys - I was never a fan of this group.
• The Bee Gees 
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience 
• Cream 
• The Doors -- " Hello I Love You " 
• Pink Floyd
• Moody Blues 
• Bobby Goldsboro -- " Honey " 
• Marvin Gaye -- " I heard it through the Grapevine " 
• David Bowie- I didn't like Bowie until much later in life.

News events

• Dr. Christian Barnard performs the first successful heart transplant.
• US Explodes experimental hydrogen Bomb. 
• The Emergency 911 Telephone service is started in the USA which provides a single number for reporting emergencies and is manned 24 hrs per day 365 days per year
• ATM First Philadelphia Bank installs the first automated teller machine in the U.S.
• Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by James Earl Ray. 
• U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, was assassinated at the age of 42 
• President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.  There were lots of race riots around this time and I was afraid. 
• Anti Vietnam War protests throughout the western world . North Vietnam and Viet Cong troops launch the Tet offensive. Vietnam US soldiers massacred men, women and children in My Lai. President Lyndon Johnson orders an end to the bombing of North Vietnam.  This war was dreadful and shameful. 
• China celebrated 20 years of communist rule by Mao Tse-tung.  And most of the world was oblivious of what was going on with the Cultural Revolution.
• President Johnson announced he would not run for another term of office.  I was from a Republican family so we were pleased with this announcement. The Republican delegates chose Richard M. Nixon, as the presidential nominee and Spiro Agnew as the Vice Presidential nominee.The Democrats chose sitting Vice President Hubert Humphrey as the Presidential nominee and Senator Edmund S. Muskie for Vice President.
• Pope Paul VI banned Catholics from using the contraceptive pill for birth control.  But I don't think many Catholics got the message because families quickly went from 8-10 kids per family to 2-3 kids. 
• Population in Europe reached 455 million.
• Pierre Elliott Trudeau becomes the Prime Minister of Canada.  I think he was the first foreign minister that I paid any attention.
• Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy marred and this moment was filled with gossip.  What did she see in that ugly, old man.
• Hong Kong Flu pandemic begins in Hong Kong.
• Black power salute is seen on Television worldwide after the gold and bronze medalists in Olympics show salute during medal ceremony in Mexico City, Mexico 
• The first Big Mac goes on sale in McDonalds .  I don't remember the first time I went to McDonald's but I remember that I loved the concept. 
• The Beatles create Apple Records and record "Hey Jude" as the first single on the label .  I loved this song but it is too long.
•  "60 Minutes" shown for the first time  and it continues to be popular today.
• The musical Hair opened in London featuring nudity and drugs and the world was shocked.

Family and friends

I had a seizure.  I woke up to find I was in a seated position and my parents were frantically trying to get my shoes on.  They rushed me to the hospital where I spent two days being tested. And then we never talked about it.