John A. Waite comes home!
I found this picture of my parents and I. Just home from St. Vincent’s hospital in Erie, Pa. I was born on July 31, 1951 around 11 p.m. The story I was told was that I was born just after 12 a.m. on August 1, daylight savings time, but the hospital used Standard time for official records.
I was the first child for Dorothy Mae and Wilbur Waite. In the photo above I used everyone’s nick name. Mom was 29 years old and Dad was 30! The photo was taken in our home on Morris Ave ( W 31st St. now) in Erie. We lived there until our new home was built in 1952 at 202 Parkway Drive in the northeast corner of Erie.
I got the nickname Jack or Jackie when I was a youngster. There were a lot of John’s, my maternal grandfather was John Ferdinand Carlson, my uncle, John Leroy Carlson, my cousin John David Carlson and then me, John Alan Waite. My grandpa was called John, my uncle was Roy, my cousin was Dave, so instead of Al or Alan, I was Jack. Lol.
When I went to kindergarten, the first day the teacher was calling the roll and called John Waite. I didn’t respond, I did not know who that was. I said I was Jackie Waite! I’ve been called Jack my whole life but used John A on all official records, Driver’s license, draft card, SS. Card.
I got in trouble one time for the name confusion. When I met Linda I told her my name was Jack and as our relationship grew I forgot to tell her the story. One day she saw my Driver’s license with the name John. Boy did I have to explain real quick!
So that’s the real story of John A. Waite’s early days!
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