The Kindergarten Disaster

I vaguely remember - although I was told so many times by Mom, Dad, and tia Marta la Grande (not to be confused with tia Marta la Chica) that it could be a false memory - the ABC’s in my room when I was 2 or 3 years old. Mom had made an alphabet with cute pictures of things that started with that letter and posted them all around the walls of my room. This may seem humdrum to folks used to Sesame Street, baby Einstein, brainy baby, etc., but trust me in 1952 Cuba such things had not occurred to anybody. I apparently quickly learned to recognize and name the letters (all 29 of them including: ch, ll, and ñ). Thus, by the time Kindergarten came around, I already had a reputation for being the smartest baby in town. To be fair it should have been Mom who had the reputation for creating the best learning environment in town. Kindergarten was a recent innovation in our town something the railroad company employees union had started as a benefit to their members. It was housed in a back room of their large social club, a single classroom with ~30 children and 3 or 4 adults. Mom and Dad had been telling me how Kindergarten was coming and how I was going to be a star! Finally the day came and they took me in. I was fine while Mom was in the room with me, but then she left. I guess I had not been informed that Kindergarten was only for me, not Mom. I did not like being left behind and proceeded to cry inconsolably. I cried so hard, in fact, that I threw up all over the place. This behavior went on for several days (including additional puking episodes) I remember that Mom used to hang around the yard, so I could see her out the window. Obviously, I must have gotten over my separation anxiety eventually but I have no recollection of that.