My cousin Sue is 2 years older than me. When we were little girls we often played together. She was the one who always thought up things for us to do that might get us in trouble and usually did. She had that mischievous streak. My grandparents called her “the ring leader” and my mother sometimes called her “the sh*t disturber.” I remember when I heard my mother call her this and asked what it meant. She said it was someone who liked to cause trouble.
One day my cousin and I were playing in my room. We were going through the top drawer of my dresser examining the contents. I had a little plastic bottle that was meant to hold a small supply of Holy Water from the church. Holy Water is water that has been blessed by the priest and thought to have special powers to bless the members of the parish.
My cousin convinced me it would be a good idea to go to my local church and fill the bottle with holy water. So off we went to the church which was about 2 city blocks from where I lived.
We were at the back of the church trying to fill my bottle from the Holy Water font and we were probably being a bit too noisy about it with some spilling and giggling.
That was when Mr. Coffee the caretaker at the church spotted us and was in hot pursuit. As we exited the side door of the church I felt him grab hold of me and angrily ask what we were doing. He caught us by surprise. My cousin said he came out of no where. I guess he thought two little girls were capable of massive destruction and he was determined to put a stop to it. I was mortified. I tried to explain that we weren’t doing anything bad. My cousin shouted at him to let me go. I freed myself from his grasp and we ran all the way back to my house.
You have to understand my personality at that time. I was really the good little girl who was so serious and sensitive. I was very upset as we reported the incident to my mother. I spoke to my cousin about this incident and she remembered I was hysterical.
My mother called to complain about my treatment and explain how very serious I was about my religion, did not intend to do anything wrong and that I was terribly upset.
I was afraid Mr. Coffee would get me in trouble with the nuns at my school. I never heard anything more about it. I am sure I worried about it for quite a while.
It is funny what you remember from your childhood. I attended the Catholic School until the middle of 4th grade when we moved to the suburbs of The City. We referred to San Francisco as The City.
Another memory I have from that time is that we wrote J.M.J. on the top of all of our school work. This stood for Jesus, Mary and Joseph. My father was Irish American and would swear sometimes. One way he would express exasperation would be to say, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!”
I don’t think I used this expression as a young adult very often. Except, I remember, when I was in labor with my son. As the pain became more intense and I experienced yet another contraction, I said to my Nurse, ” I’m having another one!,” meaning a contraction. She answered me with, ” Oh, are you having a contraction?” I yelled out, ” Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what do you think I’m having?”
I had lost touch with my Irish American roots. My father never talked of any Irish history or culture. He was not religious. Then I watched one of my favorite films, “Only the Lonely,” directed by Chris Columbus and starring John Candy, Maureen O’Hara, Ally Sheedy, Jim Belushi and Anthony Quinn. It is about an Irish American family in Chicago.
John Candy is a policeman, Danny Muldoon, and lives with his overbearing mother, Rose, played by Maureen O’Hara. And guess what? In the film I hear Rose say in exasperation, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph!” It took me back and I realized this is a common Irish American thing to say.
Well, I do highly recommend the film and not just because of that exclamation. It is a romantic comedy. It has some great music like Roy Orbison’s “Only the Lonely” and “Someone Like You” by Van Morrison.
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 
It’s funny which memories stick with you. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. I think the Mr. Coffee one was traumatic for me but funny looking back on it. I thought it made a good story. 🙂
LikeLike
It is a good story. Somehow it always seems like the traumatic ones do. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You. Well hopefully the happy ones as well. But it made an impression on me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! You brought back some memories for me as well!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
LikeLike
Really enjoyed reading this story! JMJ is hilarious! Made me think of my mother in law who hates when I use omg!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Lucile. Glad you enjoyed it. JMJ may just be a Catholic School thing here. And I don’t even know if kids still do that. Maybe someone will comment and let me know. 🙂
LikeLike
Here in Holland we use ‘Jesus Mina’ and it means ‘my Jesus’…but it’s another one my mother in law hates to hear as a curse…she’s very religious.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We won’t tell her. 🙂
LikeLike
Somehow I thought the holy water was going to end up through a coffee maker and into somebody’s cup, Deborah!
You know, Mr. Coffee would be in big trouble today grabbing a kid like that. Yikes.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph! was also exclaimed in my Polish Catholic neighborhood, but maybe it was from Irish neighbors, I’m not sure. I also remember the Polish language version of JC, which phonetically sounded to me like Ye-Zoos Ko-Han-EE.
Good story. I miss John Candy in the movies very much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha Ha! 😀 I thought people’s curiosity might be piqued by the Holy Water and Mr. Coffee. Although it was not intended to get attention that way. Thanks for telling me about the Polish Catholic customs. I love it! I miss John Candy too. I think I have seen just about every one of his films. Thanks Mark. 🙂
LikeLike
Enjoyed reading as always! Your description was spot on as I could imagine what you felt during the whole holy water situation!!!
And I’ve definitely heard the JMJ expression around the City in New York too:)
Thanks for sharing this with us:)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Lia 🙂 Well interesting to know that JMJ is still in use. I did not realize other people said it until I saw the film with Maureen O’Hara.
LikeLike
I too was expecting a story about Coffee made with holy water, imagine my surprise 😉 I’ve heard JMJ and other variants my entire life, my mother was Catholic, of irish descent. What I can’t believe is that JMJ were the strongest words you used during labor! All of my friends and sisters swore like sailors during labor. You must be a really nice person, which doesn’t surprise me. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank You for sharing some of your own background with your Mom. I was thinking of adding to my story about what women can say during labor but the story was not just about labor. I was told by a midwife that it is very common for women to swear during labor which we know is understandable. And sometimes women use very strong language. So I felt a better about my outburst.
LikeLike
Now I am wondering what would happen if Mr. Coffee had added a bit of Holy Water to his beverage. Lovely story, Deborah…and, happily, your mother defended you. (Your nana, by the way, used to refer to certain people as “S— Mixers,” so along with JMJ [I used to hear that, too, but more from friends], maybe we both learned a few of the same expressive-type words growing up!)
Another by the way: if you Google the two words: ET Canada – and scroll down a bit to “Celebrity Kids,” there’s a current interview with Chris Candy about his dad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Audrey. I think Mr. Coffee was pretty grumpy that day all right. That is funny about Nana. I guess that expression about trouble makers is pretty common. And your heard JMJ too. I really liked John Candy. Thanks for sharing the info about his son’s interview. 🙂
LikeLike