In 1955 my parents purchased a home in a new development in Union NJ called “College Estates”. One of the reasons that they chose to buy a home their was the proximity to elementary, junior high, and high schools. I grew up in Union and from K- grade 5 attended Franklin Elementary School. Then came grade 6. Union decided to centralize grade 6 at “Central 6” in the Vauxhall Neighborhood of Union. That translated to “Black neighborhood” in order to comply with the national desegregation that was going on at the time. Now, even though Union was technically “segregated” at that time, with Black residents residing in two specific areas, I can’t say that Union was ever “Prejudiced”. My parents had problems with my attending “Central Six”. They had no problems with the integration. They had problems with being bussed. So, my parent’s enrolled me in St. Michael’s for 6th , 7th and 8th grade. When I was in the eighth grade, my parent’s arranged for me to attend “Open Houses” for three Catholic High Schools: Roselle Catholic, Union Catholic, and Seton Hall Prep. My parents really wanted me to go to Seton Hall Prep because they saw that as a line from prep to college to medical school.  My first open house was at Union Catholic. Union Catholic, sorry to say, didn’t inspire me at all. My second open house was at Seton Hall Prep. There I met with a religion instructor who told me that the words of the Bible are meant to be taken literally.  My third open house was at Roselle Catholic. There I met with a religion teacher who told me that the Bible was written by man but inspired by God. He said there are contradictions all over the Bible so it is not to be taken literally. He told me that it designed to be a guide for living but NOT to be taken literally. Needless to say I agreed with him and ended up at Roselle Catholic. I NEVER regretted  my choice. More on RC in a later blog.

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