Response for Judy

Judy,

I'm receiving your emails but for some reason when I try to reply back to you it rejects.  Is there another email you can provide me?

In response to your question, my sister Deborah and I were placed in the orphanage in 1958.  I was four and she was five.  We stayed there 7 years.  I was placed in an uncle's home as a foster son and she, along with my other siblings were placed in an aunt's home.  We stayed there for a couple of years until my maternal grandmother adopted us and changed our last name to Laton.

I'm currently working on a book about the history of the orphanage and my experiences there.  I'd love to hear from you about your memories.  One thing I hope to do is include memories from others in the book.

Please don't hesitate to call me.  My home phone is (334) 361-7783. 

Dave

Many of us will remember the wonderful mural at the front of our chapel. It was a picture of Jesus sitting beside a well with children around him.  I always enjoyed the picture but as I've studied Matthew 18 and other such scriptures where Jesus specifically wanted the children to come to him and how heaven was made of those who expressed the humility of children, it has come to mean much more to me.  If anyone has a picture of the mural I pray you will share it with us. Please send it to me. I will share it with everyone with special appreciation to you.

Mike Carpenter shared this photo.  It is a shot of North Carolina State University from the air.  The orphanage is barely visible in the upper left hand corner.  The three buildings are the New Orphanage.  I'm not sure but the likely date of the photo is mid to late 60's.  If anyone knows, please share.  Thanks Mike for this great photo.

Contact

Philip,

Please feel free to contact me.  My email is:  latondave@gmail.com

Recent visit

I enjoyed a visit this week at the Diocese of Raleigh office.  I visited with Kathleen Walsh and Rod O'Connor.  Most of you will remember him as Father O'Connor.  He is very spry and healthy for his age.  It was enjoyable looking through some of the archives and sharing memories.  My book project is progressing and will be enhanced by some of the additional information found out.  I've included an updated picture of Rod below.

Sliding on the Banisters

        With so many boys in the dormitory it was quite a feat to keep everything clean.  Each boy had age appropriate chores to perform.  In addition to dormitory chores some of the older children helped with other activities at the orphanage such as working in the kitchen or the orphanage laundry.  But I enjoyed my assigned chores tremendously.  I was responsible to sweep the stairs from our second story down to the first floor.   I was also responsible to polish the banisters. 

        Now this might seem a mundane activity but it was perhaps one of the most important chores in the dormitory.  The banisters were made of a dark stained wood and curved around at the bottom instead of having a finial at the base.  They were on top of concrete sides and ran the full length of the stairs.  They offered an irresistible temptation and were perfect for sliding down.    No self-respecting boy, unless he was in the presence of his dorm nun, would ever walk down the stairs.  Instead we would mount the banister and slide down to the landing at breakneck speed onto the landing.

        As a young and unskilled boy I would straddle the banister and slide down backwards.  But I soon joined the ranks of true banister pilots by learning to sit side-saddled facing the bottom of the stairs.  This allowed me to go even faster and land on my feet.  To a boy this was as good as flying.

Remembering Christmas

Christmas was always a wonderful time for us.  We frequently spent Christmas with parents or other relatives.  Sometimes we would spend Christmas with a family that wished to share the holidays in a special with some of the children.  We enjoyed parties and outings sponsored by various fraternities and sororities from area universities.  We enjoyed these as much for the events as for any presents we might have been given.  We held Christmas plays and participated in caroling.  Our chapel had a large nativity scene to the left of the sanctuary area.  This added a wonderful atmosphere to special services.

        But my most special memory was looking out the window next to my bed.  From the window I could see the tower for WRAL television station in the distance.   Each year they covered the tower with Christmas lights and placed a large bright star at the top.  This was a wonderful sight that I looked for each year.  It marked the official beginning of the season.       

Hide and Seek

If you can imagine from the pictures of the orphanage there would be hundreds of hiding places.  One of our favorite games on summer evenings was Hide and Seek.  Home base was a large magnolia tree located in area in front of the main building or a large tree located in the grotto. The grotto was a grassy area located between the main building front stairs and the chapel.  The nuns watching over us would sit there enjoying the evening while we played the game.  Whoever was “it” would count while the rest of us hid.  Since there were so many hiding places we had to certain areas off limits or we would never find someone.  As it was the games would go quite a while. 

One night I remember finding the best hiding place ever.  As the counter began I was planning to hide behind the wall of the grotto where there rock wall.  The wall had a space behind it next to the main building.  One of the sisters motioned for me to sit down beside her.  She quickly threw her habit over me completely hiding me.  Imagine the surprise of the counter when up I popped right in front of home base.  Of course, after that no one else could use that trick for hiding.

Pancake Dinner

As I remember, on occasion we had some special meals.  One such special meal was a pancake supper.  Floyd mixed coins into the pancakes for us to find.  The rule was that you had to eat all the pancakes you took on your plate.  If you wanted more you had to bring an empty plate to the server.  We would dig through to extract the coins and then quickly wolf down the pancakes for more.  After a bit you became so full that even the promise of riches were not enough.  Of course, the older boys found more coins than the younger boys since they could eat more.    Can you imagine today trying to do this?

I Never Had a Teddy Bear

The boy’s dorm consisted of several functional rooms including a long, open bay sleeping room.  On one side was a line of lockers where we kept our clothes.  Each boy was assigned a locker and bed.  Next to our bed was a straight back chair.  Each night we would have our clothes for the next day folded neatly on the seat of the chair.  On top of the clothes would be our socks rolled neatly into a ball.

One of my lasting memories is that as a child I never had a teddy bear or stuffed animal to sleep with.  So each night after lights out when no one was looking I would take my rolled up socks and snuggle up to it like a teddy bear. 

As my daughters were growing up I always made sure they had stuffed animal toys to play with and to have as best friends.  I’ve also ensured our grandchildren had stuffed toys.  If I were the richest man in the world I would ensure that every child I came across would have their choice of a stuffed toy.

Several years ago one of my daughters gave me a teddy bear for Christmas.  Now you might think this is a silly gift to give a grown man but I want you to know that this is one of my most treasured possessions.  I’ve named it, “Poppy Bear.”  (My granddaughters call me Poppy).  He holds a special place of honor in my house with his own rocking chair and blanket.  When my granddaughters come to visit they like to drag him around and take naps with him.  No bear has been or will be more loved than Poppy Bear.