When I was a young man and never been kissed, we lived across the street from Garfield school in Pine Lawn Mo. The school yard was quite large, beyond reason for the size of the school. It was a public school but all the kids I played with in the neighborhood were Catholic and we all went to the Catholic school six blocks away. We were all there at Garfield all the time and played whatever sport was in season at the moment.
It was there where my first love, Betty Tate, clacked me in the forehead with a softball bat. She was an older woman perhaps 13, while I was just a lad of 9 or 10. We were playing softball and I was catching for the opposing team (no protective equipment in those days, not even a glove). She was at bat and when the first pitch came in, instead of stepping into the ball, she stepped back, swung the bat back and popped me a good one in the forehead without knowing what she did. My forehead bled like a stuck pig. To this day, whenever I look into the mirror and see the scar I am reminded of Betty. Betty, her mom and older brother Sonny moved away in the middle of the night sometime after that, perhaps one step ahead of the landlord.
It was in that same schoolyard, I met my second love, Marilyn Nabb, another older woman of the same approximate age as Betty. It was a cold, snowy night and for reason as yet unknown; I was allowed to go out after dark to play in the snow. The schoolyard was devoid of any of my friends. I was just about to head for home when this angel appeared out of nowhere. I knew her parents owned and lived in the back of one of our two corner stores. She did not go to my school, but I would see her in the store on occasion and she being older had no use for a young pup like me. On that one magical night, we were thrown together as we threw snowballs at each other. We soon got very cold and she said she needed to go home and warm up. To my ultimate delight she invited me to walk her home and come into the store to warm myself. We sat there by the counter and she served me a Pepsi and a Hostess cupcake. I was in heaven with a store full of treats and an older girl who actually paid attention to me for the first time. I floated home on a cloud that evening. That was the last time I remember ever seeing her. Perhaps she was an angel for a few brief moments in my life.
I frequently cannot remember what I had for supper last night, but some memories like these come back frequently and I do not know why.
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