The 1st Short Story
Introduction
"Introduction"
ANDY JUNIOR'S CHILDHOOD STORIES
The St. Joseph Home for Boys
My 1st Short Story
Hello everybody. Allow little Andy Junior to share his emotional experiences and historical perspectives from the eyes and heart of a young boy during his stay in an orphanage and the years that followed.
Enthusiasm for his short stories has been growing across the world as readers fall in love with the little boy's honest portrayal of the events -- some good, some bad -- that shaped his life at such a young age.
Over the course of several weeks and months, it will be my pleasure to share with you several short stories which compile an extensive look at Andy Junior's life during the late 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and beyond. By reading these true stories from the eyes of a young child, growing to be a young man, you will relive some of the experiences many witnessed several decades ago.
Here, I share the INTRODUCTION to Andy Junior's life and the challenges that will be laid out ahead for your reading pleasure. As you navigate the many short stories, you'll get the chance to enjoy several old pictures of that era. You'll also get detailed glimpses inside the orphanage which housed up to 50 boys at a time. Imagine the excitement and possible shenanigans perpetrated by so many rambunctious lads in the same mansion, operated by a handful of nuns!
Without further adieu, here is the...
INTRODUCTION
Life often offers disruptive challenges disguised as opportunities, or is it the other way around? Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell, especially as a child. Many years can pass before the truth eventually reveals itself.
The adventures upon which you are about to embark are those of a young lad who knew very little of the world around him at a time when his family life abruptly changed forevermore. Born on the bitterly cold night of February 16, 1954, in Jackson, Michigan, Andy Skrzynski, Jr. began his journey under the care of a loving mother and a strict but hard-working father of Polish descent. As the family continued to grow, they lived within the primitive confines of a tiny three-room Quonset home with no indoor plumbing.
At only five years of age, Andy Junior learned his parents were getting divorced, sentencing him and his brother to an unwanted life in an orphanage with 50 boys. His heart and spirit had been shattered. Using an outhouse with frigid wooden seats in the winter and sleeping in one bedroom with the entire family, including Tata, Mama, Little Brother, and Baby Sister was not the most desirable of conditions. Even so, the thought of being dropped off at an orphanage absolutely horrified him.
Being placed in the care of nuns, dressed in white and deep brown habits that made them look more like disgruntled penguins than humans, frightened him worse than any of the witches from the fairy tales he had heard. What could he possibly have done in his short life to deserve being abandoned and having to face a horde of strange boys, who most certainly would taunt and tease him and his little brother?
Discover how this scared, young lad survived his five eye-opening years at the St. Joseph Home for Boys, molding him into the man he would become.
*********
That's it for now. By continuing to read more of the short stories, you will be able to experience more of the emotions in the same fashion as little Andy perceived them during his most exciting and scariest moments.
Thank you for taking a moment to enjoy my story!!!
Andy Skrzynski
Note: The Felician Sisters provided the orphanage photographs and gave me permission to share them within "Andy and the St. Joseph Home for Boys" and social media outlets, including my website.
ANDY JUNIOR'S CHILDHOOD STORIES
The St. Joseph Home for Boys
My 1st Short Story
Hello everybody. Allow little Andy Junior to share his emotional experiences and historical perspectives from the eyes and heart of a young boy during his stay in an orphanage and the years that followed.
Enthusiasm for his short stories has been growing across the world as readers fall in love with the little boy's honest portrayal of the events -- some good, some bad -- that shaped his life at such a young age.
Over the course of several weeks and months, it will be my pleasure to share with you several short stories which compile an extensive look at Andy Junior's life during the late 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and beyond. By reading these true stories from the eyes of a young child, growing to be a young man, you will relive some of the experiences many witnessed several decades ago.
Here, I share the INTRODUCTION to Andy Junior's life and the challenges that will be laid out ahead for your reading pleasure. As you navigate the many short stories, you'll get the chance to enjoy several old pictures of that era. You'll also get detailed glimpses inside the orphanage which housed up to 50 boys at a time. Imagine the excitement and possible shenanigans perpetrated by so many rambunctious lads in the same mansion, operated by a handful of nuns!
Without further adieu, here is the...
INTRODUCTION
Life often offers disruptive challenges disguised as opportunities, or is it the other way around? Sometimes, it’s difficult to tell, especially as a child. Many years can pass before the truth eventually reveals itself.
The adventures upon which you are about to embark are those of a young lad who knew very little of the world around him at a time when his family life abruptly changed forevermore. Born on the bitterly cold night of February 16, 1954, in Jackson, Michigan, Andy Skrzynski, Jr. began his journey under the care of a loving mother and a strict but hard-working father of Polish descent. As the family continued to grow, they lived within the primitive confines of a tiny three-room Quonset home with no indoor plumbing.
At only five years of age, Andy Junior learned his parents were getting divorced, sentencing him and his brother to an unwanted life in an orphanage with 50 boys. His heart and spirit had been shattered. Using an outhouse with frigid wooden seats in the winter and sleeping in one bedroom with the entire family, including Tata, Mama, Little Brother, and Baby Sister was not the most desirable of conditions. Even so, the thought of being dropped off at an orphanage absolutely horrified him.
Being placed in the care of nuns, dressed in white and deep brown habits that made them look more like disgruntled penguins than humans, frightened him worse than any of the witches from the fairy tales he had heard. What could he possibly have done in his short life to deserve being abandoned and having to face a horde of strange boys, who most certainly would taunt and tease him and his little brother?
Discover how this scared, young lad survived his five eye-opening years at the St. Joseph Home for Boys, molding him into the man he would become.
*********
That's it for now. By continuing to read more of the short stories, you will be able to experience more of the emotions in the same fashion as little Andy perceived them during his most exciting and scariest moments.
Thank you for taking a moment to enjoy my story!!!
Andy Skrzynski
Note: The Felician Sisters provided the orphanage photographs and gave me permission to share them within "Andy and the St. Joseph Home for Boys" and social media outlets, including my website.