Trip down Memory Lane

It has been said that the human sense of smell, linked to the cognitive centers in the brain is a powerful evocation of memory. Well I will testify to that. Last week as I walked through my Alma Mater - now called Sacred Heart School of Halifax; SHSH for short (it was the Convent of the Sacred Heart - CSH - in my day); I was transported back almost 30 years.

I had arranged to meet with two of the ladies who runs the Alumnae association at SHSH and after we chatted for a bit (and they talked me into joining the Executive Committee for the Alumnae!); they offered to show me around. Now, in my day we were not allowed in the High (Secondary) school - the Elementary (Junior) had a separate wing and as Juniors, we didn't venture over there! So, it was a treat to wander around the Big School and the old residences that were once upon a time occupied by the nuns and later by Boarders.

From the minute I walked in the front door I was transported back in time. Well, you know what it's like to have really happy memories - and sometimes those memories are best left alone - and I did think maybe I should not revisit, but those days at 'The Convent' were genuinely some of the happiest days I can recall from school days.

So the chance to not only walk down Memory Lane, but to be escorted, was one I could not pass up. After we walked the corridors of the High School - I checked out the Hall of Fame and found 2 of the girls from my Grade 5 did actually stay the course and graduated in Grade 12 (where are they now?) we wandered across to my old stomping ground. As I opened the door to the Gymnasium, the smell of floor polish and rubber (as in basketballs & medicine balls) I may as well have been standing there in my blue shorts and white Aertex. I was right back there to my Grade 5 days, as clear as if it was last week. That was a memory I hadn't expected.

After checking out the Gym and the Canteen, we wandered down the main corridor past my old classrooms - I remember Grades 3, 4 & 5 very clearly and I was surprised to recognise the Art Room - not being very artistic, except maybe for Pottery class. But bumping into my Grade 1 Teacher (now a retired Nun, who no longer dresses in a habit and wears her greying hair spiky and unkempt) was the icing on the cake.

So many memories were stirred up - all of them happy ones! I certainly got home that evening with a warm, fuzzy feeling. I have always maintained that the Irish school system is a superior one (academically) but I have to admit the days I spent at the Convent were the happiest and I am delighted to be back in the fold and to be able to give something back. Thanks Mum, for sending me there - it was and still is a school that "educates students intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and physically in a caring environment" and I genuinely believe I enjoyed just about every minute of it. Well the ones I can recall anyway :)