HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES (?)

I am going to reminisce about the 'boys' in my high school life. I was not a wild or rule breaking kind of girl, I gave my parents very little reason not to trust me. I went where I said I was going and I was home by curfew, midnight. I did, however, have a few boyfriends, though one I couldn't seem to get over. 




In 1962 our small village school, Gaines Area School, was faced with going from a K-12 school to an elementary K-6th grade because we were annexing with a huge school some 8 or 9 miles away. Our class D school would now be a Class A school, which is very hard to imagine if you're 12. Our 7th through 12th grades would be traveling to Swartz Creek and mixing with all those thousands of students in that gigantic building. I would be entering the 8th grade in the fall of '62 and changing class rooms for each class for the first time. I would have a locker and a schedule and would be expected to navigate those halls and show up on time for each class. I was not secure nor was I petrified. It seemed such a big deal to me and I believed it would be an adventure, of sorts. I think I always believed I'd figure it out in short order and I guess I did. I do remember my first day, kind of, I remember being tingly all day. I loved this big gigantic building and all the new faces mixed with all my old friends, so very exciting.


Back in third grade I had my first crush, Tim. But now in Junior High, I met Barry. Ah, my first real boyfriend. My first boyfriend was from Swartz Creek, the big giant school and he has chosen me. He was so cute and he gave me my first lip lockin' kiss in the hall by my locker between classes. It was awesome. He was a really good first boyfriend. When we broke up, I have no idea why, we remained friends. I liked him all through high school and still today think of him now and then with fondness. I saw him at our 25th class reunion and the planning for it prior and I still find him to be a really good man. Someone with whom I could and would be friends, if we lived closer. His wife seemed very nice and I assume she is also good people, he wouldn't have chosen her otherwise.


In March of 1963, I had my first date with John. My first date, period. He was my sister's boyfriend's brother and my parents allowed me to go on a date with him because they knew his family, I guess.  I was barely 13 and we went to a basketball game and the dance following. It was a nice date and I liked him very much. He didn't kiss me or dance too close or make me nervous. My first date was pretty good. I wanted and hoped we would have a second date.


We did. He wasn't much for using the phone, so he found me at lunch time at school and asked me to go to the movie with him and his brother and my friend Kathy. A drive-in movie with my friend and his brother, they had just started dating a few months prior to our first date. My parents allowed this date also and we went to see "Splendor in the Grass". My parents did NOT know that was the movie we'd be seeing. It was a little, umm, inappropriate, but I think we handled it okay. This relationship was not a smooth ride. We dated on and off all through high school. During our lengthy break-ups, and there were MANY, there were other boyfriends and dates. I honestly don't know if he dated anyone other than me, if he did, no one told me or I choose not to remember. I really don't know. John was a Gaines boy.


I dated a neighbor of Barry's, Guy, during one of our break-up periods and this was a boy I always thought broke my heart. He has recently informed me that I was the heart breaker. I don't remember. I don't remember us breaking up at all. I do remember being with him. I remember how he made me feel. Very differently than John. Guy made me believe I was a pretty girl and he always made me feel special. His family treated me like one of them from my first meeting with them. He was my 'mature' boyfriend. He was so good to me and as I recall, tender and funny. Funny mattered to me and affectionate mattered to me. It was a special relationship for a lot of reasons and what I remember of all of it, I was just as special to him as he was to me. We are in touch again, thank you FB, and it's good to know he is married and has a family and all seems good in his world. It makes me happy to know he is happy and that he remembers with kind thoughts as I remember, us. Guy was a Swartz Creek boy. I remember seeing him off for the Air Force, I don't know why I went to send him off, I just know I did. He was (and is) special.


I had a date with Bob. One was enough. Also a Swartz Creek boy.


I had a crush on more than one boy without success. Meaning, no dates. I learned years later one boy had a giant crush on me, but I didn't know and thought of him as a friend, always. I would have gone out with him, had he asked, but now, I am glad I didn't because he maintained the friend status throughout high school and I really loved being his friend. This Bob, was a great addition to my life.


I went to a prom in a neighboring town, Durand, with another friend. He didn't have a girlfriend and I was happy to go with him. It was a fun night, but totally no sparks and totally no thought of a real date with this Johnny. He was completely friend material, only.


I went to four proms in high school. Three at Swartz Creek and the one I just mentioned. My first prom I was a freshman and Tim invited me and I was happy to attend with him. He was a friend and we had a really good time. I wore a pink knee length formal (my sister's hand me down) and he was a fun date. Tim was a Gaines boy.


The third was my sophomore year and I wore a mint green knee length, strapless formal (another of my sister's gowns). Here's the sad part, I remember my hair, my corsage and my dress and shoes, I do NOT remember my date. OMG! Serously, I cannot at this moment remember with whom I attended prom in my sophomore year. It might have been Tom, I dated him a couple of times. A Swartz Creek boy. I will have to dig through some olden days pictures and see if I have one of that prom. *sigh*  


Apparently I was meant to be with John. Every single time we broke-up and made up again our relationship seemed better. Almost like breaking up made us stronger. I don't know. I was sure I loved him and I was equally sure he loved me and that this was forever.


We went to my senior prom together and it was a perfect night. I wore a floor length light yellow gown with pearls all over the bodice and I loved the dress and my date.


Four months after I graduated I married my high school sweetheart of 4 years. i was 17 years old and walked down the aisle to my future with a smile. I believed we would be together til death do us part. No doubts. 


The marriage lasted 10 years and produced two children and many, many happy memories. Seven of those years were very happy and very much the life I wanted to live forever. What I couldn't live with forever was a bottle of anything being more important and being more necessary than me. I took my babies and left. Waiting for him to need us more than he needed that. It didn't happen.


Oops, that had nothing to do with high school, the marriage part.  


There were other dates and other crushes, but these are the ones I remember something about and the ones I still think about sometimes. The others, I am sure were fun or interesting at the time, but now, I have no recall.


Let me just say that many of the friends, boys and girls, from high school or even grade school have stood the test of time and still remain people of great importance in my life. The entire Gaines Group and so many Swartz Creek friends are still part of my everyday thinking. Most of my memories, the relatively clear ones, involve some of these wonderful old friends and our good times.


Thank you one and all for being the reality with which I exist today and relive my yesterdays, now and then.


♥ Jo