Nunzilla Was My Mother: And My Stepmother Was a Witch

by Silver, Terry Gelormino

• ISBN13: 9780533160679
• ISBN10: 0533160677
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-09
• Publisher: Ingram Pub Services

Summary

Growing up in a two-parent household in the middle of the Depression was certainly no picnic, but spending it in an orphanage run by dozens of nuns was undoubtedly worse. In this vivid and haunting memoir, Terry Gelormino Silver recounts the formative years she spent in three separate Ohio orphanages and offers readers rare insight into both the good and bad of orphanage life. Here is a memoir that captures the magic of childhood, the anxiety of adolescence, and the surprises found in everyday life.

Author Biography

Terry Gelormino Silver was born in Bellaire, Ohio and received her grade school education at St. Vincent's Orphanage in Columbus. She went on to earn her high school diploma from the Ohio Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphans Home in Xenia, Ohio and ultimately worked for the Air Force Institute of Technology for many years. Prior to that, however, the author spent nineteen years in New York City, living in Greenwich Village for three years, where she met her husband, and Brooklyn for sixteen years. The couple had two children before the author returned to Ohio after she and her husband separated. Sadly, both her husband and children have since passed away, but the author's spirits are lightened by a beautiful granddaughter. Now retired and living in Decatur, Georgia, Terry enjoys crossword puzzles, writing poetry and short stories, and gambling. This is her first published book.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
St. Ann's Infant Asylum, Columbus, Ohio	p. 3
St. Vincent's Orphanage, Columbus, Ohio	p. 11
Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity	p. 17
Religious Fears and Shenanigans	p. 27
Other Fears and Horrors	p. 37
The Bums of St. Vincent's	p. 42
Orphanage Pets	p. 44
About Sex	p. 47
Work Assignments	p. 55
Boys vs. Girls	p. 58
Depression Cuisine	p. 59
Playing the Orphan Game	p. 65
Playground Entertainment	p. 69
Visits to the Mental Hospital	p. 75
Nunzilla's Fangs	p. 78
What's in a Name?	p. 87
My Hero-My Father	p. 92
Happy Days at St. Vincent's	p. 95
Getting Ready to Transfer	p. 102
The OS&SO Home, Zenia, Ohio	p. 107
The Home Hospital	p. 113
Cottage Fifteen	p. 118
Culture Shock	p. 124
Comparisons	p. 131
Teenage Crushes	p. 136
World War II	p. 139
The Witch	p. 142
Cottage Fifteen Rebellion	p. 146
The Wicked Witch Is Dead	p. 152
A Year of Turmoil	p. 159
Emotional Breakdown	p. 165
To Hell with It All	p. 167
Postscript	p. 169
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.