I attended St. Anne Catholic elementary. The school was from kindergarten to eighth grade then on to a four-year high school. We didn’t have a junior high/middle school. After I graduated from St Anne, I attended St.Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington. I recently (January 2017) read that the seminary will become a hotel in the near future. St. Edward was the minor seminary and St Thomas was the major seminary located on the same property but about a half mile up the road. They were both six-year schools. The property was located on Lake Washington which is now a prime location. It is a very beautiful wooded area.

Seminary life taught me a lot. One of the biggest things I learned was from our silent meals. We would eat without talking at all. One of the senior students would read while we ate. I don’t know why, but I still remember someone reading the book “Fail Safe.” Eight people sat at each table with basically one student from each grade. The professors were mostly Jesuits and they sat at the very long “head” table. While eating, we couldn’t speak so we would use sign language or pointed to something on the table that we wanted. This taught me to be observant of other people around me. Even today, when I see a movement from the corner of my eye, I look closer to see if someone needs something.

Another everlasting memory is of Sunday high mass. The chapel was on the second floor. We would line up two-by-two with the older students first and the youngest last. We would all sing the Gregorian chant as we proceeded down the very long hallway with high arched ceilings on the first floor, up the stairs and into the chapel. The hallway had high arched ceilings.The chanting would resonate off the walls and it gave me a feeling that I can’t describe – it was like in a movie.