Kindergarten is where I learned my left from my right, and a few other important lessons. I clearly remember my 1st day of school – a half day of kindergarten at Thaddeus Stevens Elementary School in the Elliott neighborhood on the West End of  Pittsburgh, PA.  I remember the excitement of the weeks leading up to that first day – sitting at my mother’s elbow, watching raptly as she pinned patterns and cut  out pieces from  lovely calico print and glen plaid fabrics which we’d gone downtown to Murphy’s five and ten cent store to pick out together. While Mom skillfully stitched those pieces together on her Singer sewing machine into the most beautiful, grown-up, lace-and-ribbon trimmed dresses that any 5-year old girl could ever have wished for, I chattered on incessantly about what Real ... 08/25/2011