| Author | Message | ||
     survivor1101 New member Username: survivor1101 Post Number: 11 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 76.65.199.38 |
Wow, so much stuff has been coming to the surface that I had no idea was down there. Remember that tunnel, the one between the Lower Hall and the Boiler Room. Does anyone remember hearing stories about there being a room off that tunnel? I do. Remember the washing machine in the laundry room? I was terrified it would go all 'China Syndrome' and crash through the floor. All day silences, I remember those. I remember one horrible day, when the whole school was in silence, and then we all got called to the dining room. The girls remained in the dining room to pray for the boys while their dorms were searched one by one. It turned into a Light Session, and the boys were sent to the Chapel to one of their own. Eventually the entire school ended up in the Light Session in the dining room. People were called to stand along the edge of that platform and berated and belittled before the whole school body. I was hauled up front, with a few of my friends, and I remember feeling the eyes of every other student in that room. I also remember heading to the dorms that night, exhausted and worn out. Only to wake up the next morning and being put on 'D'. I had forgotten about that damn bell for so long until I read about it in another post. Remember Chuck Farnsworths classes? How they always used to end up on 'D' at least ONCE a semester??? LOL! Ours ended up on 'D' for laughing when one of our classmates undid her blouse and flashed the whole class her camisole while Chuck's back was turned. I remember him running to get Miss Case and Mrs. Childs, and I remember getting yelled at for a long time. Crazy. I also remember having a crazy crush on someone and getting into deep deep trouble because of it. I wonder if he knows how much trouble? *blush* So DUMB. I mean it was a crush, not sex, but they treated it the same way. | ||
| jungle_john New member Username: jungle_john Post Number: 5 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 216.191.202.186 |
The whole day light sessions? Was that in the 82-83 year? I thought it all started with a missing overcoat? I remember the searches that day. | ||
| survivor1101 New member Username: survivor1101 Post Number: 12 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 76.65.199.38 |
That might have been it. I thought it was all over a wallet. But it was a frightening day. A bizarre bizarre day. And so surreal that unless you lived it, I am not sure you could believe it happened. That was the day Betty told Penina Clarke she had the devil in her. Crazy! | ||
| sorry_wrong_number New member Username: sorry_wrong_number Post Number: 15 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 24.141.16.97 |
Jungle John: I think I know who you are...I was there from 81-84 too. Pls. contact me @ jayla@cogeco.ca | ||
| sandrabrownearly New member Username: sandrabrownearly Post Number: 20 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 72.66.131.168 |
If that happened in 82-83, then I was there. I don't remember that at all! (Now that doesn't mean it didn't happen...it just makes me wonder about my memories...why wouldn't I remember that?) | ||
| cryfreedom Member Username: cryfreedom Post Number: 72 Registered: 6-2006 Posted From: 24.226.27.60 |
Sandra-----It is amazing how much I have forgotten over the years also. For me I think it is a defense mechanism---I am protecting myself from the hurt and memories. Anyways, if this is the meeting(Christ there were so many) you are all talking about, I remember it VERY well. The senior girls basketball team had a very important playoff game to go to that day and we were finally allowed to go and got there just in time. That was a crazy day!!! | ||
| sandrabrownearly New member Username: sandrabrownearly Post Number: 22 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 72.66.131.168 |
I realized it was 23 years ago, and I have problems sometimes remembering last week, but that really freaks me out! I have a lot of really great memories and I do have some stressful memories...none that are physical or even come near to the mental abuse that I've read on this site. Everyone on here is in my prayers and thoughts because I'm drained so I know that all of you are too. Brenda and I deal with things with humor...I hope everyone on here is okay with that. I don't want people to think we're taking things too lightly. (We've had times in our life where the humor helped us live through another day...and some of those days were before GCC!) I've lived through the "chest poke" that someone talked about on another thread, but it wasn't Mr. Ortaloni...it was my father and he was either drunk or hung over at the time, I'm sure. And I was a little girl...9 or 10... Brenda and I (and a few others) were part of a church called Living Waters and from what I've been told, the pastor and his wife were once very loving. We came on the scene after they became affiliated with the C of J and all I remember of them was that they were nasty. We came back from visiting my Dad once (by this time my Mom was dating my step dad) and my younger sister started crying when we got back. The pastors wife kept telling her that no matter how much she cried she wasn't going to live with our Dad. Little did she know that our Dad couldn't have taken us...he couldn't take care of himself and we knew it...that's why Debra was crying. Time with him was heart wrenching and she needed a good cry and a hug...wicked woman had absolutely no discernment. The Pastor once cussed me til a fly wouldn't land on me...I specifically remembering being called a •••••••...I had made a card for a student who was leaving (Living Waters had it's own school - 10 students total!) Anyway, I left the card at home and the secretary had to take me home to get it...I lived a block from the school! I once planned a skating party for the 10 students (I had been voted class pres!) but the day before someone realized that I hadn't taken care of transportation...seems obvious now, but I was in the 9th grade and a little stressed! They got a couple Mom's with vans lined up but I wasn't allowed to go. Everybody else went, but me. (That I remember!) The thought of going to Grenville was scary, but it had to be better than what I was living! (And for me, it was. Plus, I was blessed to have my sister with me...and my favorite teacher too!) (Message edited by sandrabrownearly on September 05, 2007) | ||
| priest_of_satan New member Username: priest_of_satan Post Number: 11 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 74.114.251.86 |
Guys/gals - there were totally crazy things that happenned - but am seriously the only person that is still positive about my time at GCC. I was there for 5 years, 83-88/89, there were light sessions, bawl outs etc. crazy stuff - but thats all it was to me...GCC crazy stuff! I mean FF labelled or I should say called me a priest of satan cause I liked two girls!!! Retarded of course - there is no way that anyone should like 2 people and it has never happenned again! But all in all, the friendships and navigation through the GCC b.s. is empowering to me - They were tyrants and had bizarre thought processes but I certainly do not feel abused what-so-ever. Chuck Farnsworths - glasses, the way he put his hands/fingers together and grunted and hummed...Hilarious - lets not forget his plaid suits!! I went out for halloween or some GCC parade dressed like him and FF/Don F. and Chuck howled... They just werent that bad to me...just me i guess | ||
| sheilac Member Username: sheilac Post Number: 52 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 70.54.16.29 |
Hey babe, I'm glad you don't feel abused and I totally agree with you that the friendships I fostered (yours among them) and the sense of comraderie that grew out of suffering through their tyranny and bizarre thought processes *was* very special. Sure there were positive times at GCC. Browns' Bay, G&S etc...there is a whole thread here dedicated to that. Btw, though, sometimes it does happen that you can "like" two people at the same time. It is pretty typical of the human heart in my opinion, especially when you are a teenager! So calling you a Priest of Satan at all but especially because of perfectly normal behaviour is really over-the-top not to mention wrong. And believe me, the hypocrisy of Farnsworth preaching to you about this is mind-blowing. | ||
| sandrabrownearly New member Username: sandrabrownearly Post Number: 23 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 72.66.131.168 |
You're not alone! Everyone had their own degree of crap and everyone deals with it differently. Like I said, I have more rough memories pre-GCC! I was glad to be there...there was more craziness at home for me then there. (My step dad, who I love and for some crazy reason have always loved, is just as fanatical if not more than the Grenville staff! He told us once that he had a say in whether or not we went to heaven. "As Moses cursed Abraham..." or some such nonsense. He would read Watchman Nee every night at the table until dinner was cold...you couldn't start until he was finished. Look up Watchman Nee...it's a real page turner! (Who knows, I might like it now, but back then...well, I was hungry!) I think of Grenville, I actually think of freedom! (Sounds crazy, doesn't it?) Work jobs...heck, I was put "in charge" at our house since I was nine! (Cleaning, putting in dinner, looking after my sisters) For once, I only had to worry about me. (Well, that's not totally true...when my younger sister came up they were constantly getting me out of class to comfort her. She wouldn't stop crying! I'm serious...she cried for months! I love you Deb!) Plus, I had my side kick, Brenda until she kicked me to the curb! Best thing she could have ever done...I was finally just me and not part of a set. Thanks woman! Once we got back home, systematically all three of us were kicked out for some stupid reason. I left a window open and turned the heat up. Actually it was for telling him that I thought he was over reacting a bit and that I had said I was sorry..."You want to see me over react? You better be gone by the time I get back!" Now, I was 21 and newly engaged so it wasn't the end of the world. (There was a physical altercation with that argument too...couldn't see straight, literally, for about an hour.) Went to live with my in-laws. My mother in law kept saying, "Are you sure you're not on drugs?" That's the only reason she could think of to kick a child out. Debra was kicked out that day too for sticking up for me. Anyway, I'm rambling! Everyone's stories and feelings are valid. We all have in common that we were there. After that, it's different for everyone. (Message edited by sandrabrownearly on September 05, 2007) | ||
| rozpriceenglish Intermediate Member Username: rozpriceenglish Post Number: 104 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 172.129.240.148 |
Geez Sandra, that's awful. I'm so sorry you had to live through that... **big hugs** | ||
| sandrabrownearly New member Username: sandrabrownearly Post Number: 24 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 72.66.131.168 |
Thanks Roz... You don't know how many times on this site I've typed something to post and then just deleted it. My stories pale to the hurt many have gone through here... Thanks for the big hug! Sandra | ||
| gcc8286 New member Username: gcc8286 Post Number: 3 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 24.71.223.142 |
I know I am turning 40 this year but I totally fogot about the all day light sessions of the early 80's...WTF were with those? Eventually it was just easier to give in and get it over with. Priest of Satan you wore out the soles of your oxfords standing for so long. Looks like most of us on this posting are from around the same time frame - I recognize lots of names. | ||
| gayatgcc Member Username: gayatgcc Post Number: 67 Registered: 7-2007 Posted From: 76.66.37.28 |
Gcc8286 ... it was always easier to admit your sins than to protest. The quicker I would admit to being a sinner, the sooner I could back to my friend & life! Sick. | ||
| survivor1101 Junior Member Username: survivor1101 Post Number: 27 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 207.112.105.233 |
Sandra, We are all here to heal, get your stuff out, it is just as important as everyone elses. | ||
| survivor1101 Junior Member Username: survivor1101 Post Number: 28 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 207.112.105.233 |
Sandra, We are all here to heal, get your stuff out, it is just as important as everyone elses. | ||
| keithgccy8891 New member Username: keithgccy8891 Post Number: 1 Registered: 9-2007 Posted From: 65.93.19.159 |
In response to Priest_of_Satan I actually enjoyed my time in GCC. To me it was easier to deal with the staff than when I had to deal with life in public schools. Pretty much it was my first year since grade 5 that I stuck it all out. I'll admit I balled my eyes the first year (grade 8) but that was homesickness as well. Grade 9 and 10 were my choices and it helped with my next 2 years in a different school. Didn't really deal with any light sessions or D, except for a week of all my free time working in the kitchens after being caught playing leisure suit larry (and lying about it). Sides that - pretty much I learned that I could deal with what stones life threw to me. Found lots of gold in those stones. Any how Hi to Mike Irvine I've seen you post before - and Hi to John Strucke don't know if your there - tried to call you at GCC pretending to be your dad but didn't work out. Hi to whomever out there actually remembers me - its actually hard to find my pics anywhere in the yearbook. l8r | ||
| good_grades New member Username: good_grades Post Number: 1 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 64.230.43.70 |
Hi - first post - I have to echo wagener84 and sandrabrownearly (I remember you both, by the way!!) - life was better for me at GCC than at home. Parents divorced / Mom kicked us out / Dad took an overseas job / Stepmom couldn't deal with us (even though we were not bad kids - she just had no support from my Dad who basically left as soon as he could and viewed her as a live in babysitter so he didn't have to be bothered with us any more). Off we went to Grenville, faster than you could say, "what the h*** did I do?!?!"!! I attended from 1981 - 1983, grades 9 and 10, and I even spent two summers and most school breaks at GCC. I tell you, I was so desperate for someone, anyone to want / love me, that I toed the line pretty closely. I also got really good grades (one day we got out of junior basketball practice so that I could help the team study for the Geography exam :-) ), so between those two things, I think I just wasn't a candidate for the abuse. Anyway, I guess I'm in the camp who did take away as much positive as negative from GCC. I have never been back, though - one chapter of my life that I'm glad is over! My heart goes out to all you who really suffered there - I don't doubt it for a second. I'll be wishing you well (from a distance) on the 29th, and thank you to all of you who have come so bravely forward. hugs, GG | ||
| sandrabrownearly Junior Member Username: sandrabrownearly Post Number: 27 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 72.66.131.168 |
Survivor...thank you for the validation. I guess you can always look around and find someone going through something worse than you, but it doesn't mean what you're going through isn't tough...so I really appreciate what you said! Good Grades...now I'm going to have to pull out my year books are try to narrow down who you are! (They have really had a work out lately!) | ||
| breaker_19_girl Intermediate Member Username: breaker_19_girl Post Number: 203 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 64.187.49.13 |
Wow, I m so overwhelmed these days.... Man, I can not even think straight! I must know good grades too.... but trust me good grades were hard to come by for moi..... I remember the all day light sessions, LOL Priest wearing his shoes out... hahahahaha.... Some days I was lucky enough to just wear my ••• out sitting there.... Others wore me shoes out... My particular fav light sessions were the ones disquised as dorm meetings... LOL... all the new girls excited... a pj party...!!! Not FAWKING likely, my advice wear your most modest Pj's sit in the back of the room and try not to breathe... | ||
| breaker_19_girl Intermediate Member Username: breaker_19_girl Post Number: 205 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 64.187.49.13 |
I must know 82-86 as well.... Love ya all crawlin out the wood work... tis excellent.... Dear Priest of Satan, I think you are stupendous! But, I am re naming you .... I hear by decree you are DEVILS ADVOCATE! Now that we have that straight.... You are allowed to have your feelings and we ours.... And that goes for every one. My time at GCC was good and bad. But, I think my point tonight is this.... grenville had a way of putting a target on our backs. Lets face it... for an elite school... you did not need good marks, you did not have to come from a wealthy family of heirarchy.... All things most elite schools generally require as pre requistes... Parents confided to the headmaster and deans at the initial interview certain family dysfunction and that their child was a discipline problem perhaps.... GCC used that info against us... they took kids all ready struggling and made it even harder... some stronger and more rebelllious and did not give a FAWK, likely you. Others struggling in the all ready teenage hormone, discontent, and lack of maturity got hit hard...all ready feeling vulnerable and un wanted at home etc... were force fed hidous things day after day, self esteem non existant was shattered.... The name calling by adults and people claiming christian... made life a lil confusing for some..... You have moved on... and that is sooooo excellent.. let these people say what they have too kid! Please! They have •••• on their hearts and they need to get it out and hopefully move on! | ||
| purgatory Junior Member Username: purgatory Post Number: 36 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 67.71.120.15 |
Holy ••••-yes those cheery dorm meetings in the dining lounge. Everyone in their P.J.'s and their favourite stuffed animal-a few jokes/giggles by M.H., and B.F., and then the •••• hit the fan!!! Talk about setting you up for a great big fall. To this day I remember Mary Haig sitting in her chair above us- all bracelts dangling, her make up just plastered on her face, and her tight knit dress.After we all had a chuckle about something so stupid she would then start with her verbal diarreah...and on and on it went. | ||
| wagener84 Member Username: wagener84 Post Number: 75 Registered: 8-2007 Posted From: 68.151.117.98 |
Mary Haig....omg did she love to wear those tight sweaters. I swear she did that on purpose as a display of power. "I can dress like a •••• but you can't"...nananananananana!! lol |
