First Fancy Date
Back in 06 SN gave me a list of things to write about. I just looked at the list and first fancy date struck my eye. It’s not a happy story, but here goes.
My first fancy date was when I was nine years old. There was a girl (GM) that lived across the dirt road from us, and I had a crush on her. Her mother (Mrs. M) ran a store in the front of the house and they lived in the back. If you remember from my previous story there were two stores around my house. One beside our house (The one where W and his family lived) and one about fifty yards away (GM’s house). The Wizard of Oz was coming on TV and she asked me if I would like to come over and watch it with her. Well Fmom and her mom got wind of it, and I think they were more excited about us watching TV together then both GM and I were. Fmom would not hear of me going over there unless I was dressed up. So I ended up putting on a coat and tie to walk across a dirt road to see a girl I saw ever day. Her mom was in on the whole thing with Fmom and GM had a pretty party dress on.
So as things went I got over to their house and Mrs. M was hovering all around us and making sure we had snacks and were settled on the couch to watch the show. Now this would have been a great evening except for one thing – her father. Her father was the kind of person that didn’t give a damn too much about anybody except for himself. I guess when it comes down to it you could say he was just mean. Anyway, we sat on the couch and started watching the show. About half way through it her father comes in from work. He goes straight to the TV and changes the channel to the news. He sits down and starts watching TV without a word to us or even glancing over in our direction. Needless to say I was feeling very uncomfortable, and I excused myself and left. As I was leaving I heard him yell to his wife when would dinner be ready. When I get back home Fmom asked me why I was home so early, and I tell her what happened. Obviously she was mad as could be, but looking back I don’t think it effected me that much. I mean I missed a few minutes of the show, but I got home took off my coat and tie and laid down in front of the TV and watched the rest of it. Funny enough, neither GM nor I ever mentioned what happened and it was soon forgotten about.
Spin forward about thirty-five years - Fmom and I went back to Arkansas with my brother and sil. She wanted to stop and see where we used to live. There was nothing there. No buildings, no trees – just fields planted with soybeans. It was hard to even tell where our house and the stores used to be. I have to admit that seeing where I used to live and the way it was now was a very big let down. I could remember all the carefree times I had there. All the pastures and trees and even the creek that ran down by the house. Now it was gone with nothing but open fields.
Next Fmom wanted to see GM’s parents. They had moved from where we used to live to a small town about twenty five miles away. I expected to see only the father and mother, but GM had gotten divorced and was living with her parents. We were sitting there talking for awhile, and they asked me what I had been doing. I told them I was divorced, retired from the Air Force and basically taking care of FMom. When I said this I could see GM’s eyes almost pop out. I now know how animals on the savanna feel when they’re being stalked. As soon as GM heard I was divorced and retired, she went from being formally nice to being almost all over me. Fmom, my brother and sil kept giving me these looks like what the hell is going on? We finally leave and Fmom, the brother and sil were kidding me that if we hadn’t gotten out of there sooner, that GM would have taken me straight to a church.
I thought it was funny at first, but the more I got to thinking about it the more I felt sorry for GM. From what I found out, she had been married for a good while and living in Atlanta. I don’t know the reason for her divorce, but I’d also found out she had been left with hardly anything and had to move back in with her parents. I would think that after feeling secure in a marriage and living in a big city that having to give it all up and move back to an out in the sticks little town would be very hard on anyone. That was the last time I ever saw or heard anything about her or her family. I’ve thought about her since then, and I keep hoping that she has found what she wanted and that life has been good to her.
So ends the tale of my first fancy date and a little more. I’ve thought of some of the people I grew up with out in Arkansas, and sometimes I think I would like to see how their lives had turned out. Other times I think of Arkansas as a place that I used to live but not home. I like where I live now and feel a lot more comfortable with trees, and pastures, and lakes and ponds around.
Hope everyone is doing fine and no bad weather has hit around you. Take Care.
FM
BTW this is my 400th post!
My first fancy date was when I was nine years old. There was a girl (GM) that lived across the dirt road from us, and I had a crush on her. Her mother (Mrs. M) ran a store in the front of the house and they lived in the back. If you remember from my previous story there were two stores around my house. One beside our house (The one where W and his family lived) and one about fifty yards away (GM’s house). The Wizard of Oz was coming on TV and she asked me if I would like to come over and watch it with her. Well Fmom and her mom got wind of it, and I think they were more excited about us watching TV together then both GM and I were. Fmom would not hear of me going over there unless I was dressed up. So I ended up putting on a coat and tie to walk across a dirt road to see a girl I saw ever day. Her mom was in on the whole thing with Fmom and GM had a pretty party dress on.
So as things went I got over to their house and Mrs. M was hovering all around us and making sure we had snacks and were settled on the couch to watch the show. Now this would have been a great evening except for one thing – her father. Her father was the kind of person that didn’t give a damn too much about anybody except for himself. I guess when it comes down to it you could say he was just mean. Anyway, we sat on the couch and started watching the show. About half way through it her father comes in from work. He goes straight to the TV and changes the channel to the news. He sits down and starts watching TV without a word to us or even glancing over in our direction. Needless to say I was feeling very uncomfortable, and I excused myself and left. As I was leaving I heard him yell to his wife when would dinner be ready. When I get back home Fmom asked me why I was home so early, and I tell her what happened. Obviously she was mad as could be, but looking back I don’t think it effected me that much. I mean I missed a few minutes of the show, but I got home took off my coat and tie and laid down in front of the TV and watched the rest of it. Funny enough, neither GM nor I ever mentioned what happened and it was soon forgotten about.
Spin forward about thirty-five years - Fmom and I went back to Arkansas with my brother and sil. She wanted to stop and see where we used to live. There was nothing there. No buildings, no trees – just fields planted with soybeans. It was hard to even tell where our house and the stores used to be. I have to admit that seeing where I used to live and the way it was now was a very big let down. I could remember all the carefree times I had there. All the pastures and trees and even the creek that ran down by the house. Now it was gone with nothing but open fields.
Next Fmom wanted to see GM’s parents. They had moved from where we used to live to a small town about twenty five miles away. I expected to see only the father and mother, but GM had gotten divorced and was living with her parents. We were sitting there talking for awhile, and they asked me what I had been doing. I told them I was divorced, retired from the Air Force and basically taking care of FMom. When I said this I could see GM’s eyes almost pop out. I now know how animals on the savanna feel when they’re being stalked. As soon as GM heard I was divorced and retired, she went from being formally nice to being almost all over me. Fmom, my brother and sil kept giving me these looks like what the hell is going on? We finally leave and Fmom, the brother and sil were kidding me that if we hadn’t gotten out of there sooner, that GM would have taken me straight to a church.
I thought it was funny at first, but the more I got to thinking about it the more I felt sorry for GM. From what I found out, she had been married for a good while and living in Atlanta. I don’t know the reason for her divorce, but I’d also found out she had been left with hardly anything and had to move back in with her parents. I would think that after feeling secure in a marriage and living in a big city that having to give it all up and move back to an out in the sticks little town would be very hard on anyone. That was the last time I ever saw or heard anything about her or her family. I’ve thought about her since then, and I keep hoping that she has found what she wanted and that life has been good to her.
So ends the tale of my first fancy date and a little more. I’ve thought of some of the people I grew up with out in Arkansas, and sometimes I think I would like to see how their lives had turned out. Other times I think of Arkansas as a place that I used to live but not home. I like where I live now and feel a lot more comfortable with trees, and pastures, and lakes and ponds around.
Hope everyone is doing fine and no bad weather has hit around you. Take Care.
FM
BTW this is my 400th post!
posted by Family Man | 4:09 PM
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