I, like Bill Walsh, was a student at Visitation Grade School, a Catholic school, on the south side of Chicago. I was 11 years old at the time of the fire. I was very upset about the fire, as was everyone, but especially so because our school looked so much like Our Lady of the Angels school. It was easy to imagine the same thing happening to us. And my classroom was on the same floor of the school too. For several days after the fire I didn't go to school because I was so nervous and ill with fear of going there and being burned. When I finally did go, I frequently asked to go to the bathroom because it was right at the top of the stairs and I knew I'd be able to get out safely in case of a fire. The nun who was teaching my class at that time recognized that I had a problem because of the fire. She had me pull up a chair right next to hers. Then she talked to the whole class, with me next to her holding her hand, about how only those who God is calling home would ever die. She told us a story about St. Francis of Assisi whose brother died by getting hit by lightning while lying in bed right next to Francis. The brother was being called to Heaven, but it was not Francis' time. For many days after that, I still felt sick to my stomach whenever I was in the school. The pictures on the TV haunt me still and I could cry just writing about these memories.
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