As I was looking at the 60th anniversary memorials, i remembered an experience 28 years ago. When my daughter was in first grade in 1990 at Lowrie Elementary in Elgin, IL i was going to attend a parent teacher conference. As soon as I entered the building I froze. Lowrie was very similar to OLA. Not only my memories of OLA but, more importantly, for my daughters safety I was very uncomfortable. My wife reassured me that my daughters room was next to the fire escape. A few years later the school district wanted to close Lowrie. I related my experience about a neighborhood anchor closing and how it affected the neighborhood. With other input and information the district decided to keep the school open. A couple of years later a multi-million dollar addition was added. For many years I repressed most of my memories about the fire. I thought I was in the second grade when the fire occurred. With help I remembered what grade is was in then.
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