Eighth grade was a confusing time for me. I had turned thirteen that year and boys were becoming more intriguing. I had liked the same boy from kindergarten on, but he had never paid too much attention to me.
We had a group class picture taken in sixth grade. I was sitting next to said boy in my red plaid dress laughing at something funny he had done just as the camera was clicked. So for posterity I am sitting there with a big grin on my face and closed eyes. I might add, I was the only person in the class picture with their eyes closed.
"Mom, can I have a party?" I asked in my eighth grade year. It was March and I wanted some of the boys in my class to come to my house. I wanted girls too, but it was more about the boys.
We lived one half mile north of Shelby, so some of the boys I invited walked to my house. My mother had agreed to make sloppy joes and the premise of the party was to watch one game of the state high school basketball finals on TV. I have no idea who was playing and it probably was one of the earliest years it was televised.
Television at our house was also a relatively new thing. I was around eleven when I came home from school one day to find we had our first TV. My sister and I had previously gone to the neighbors whenever we could to watch the Mickey Mouse Club.
My father had installed an antenna and it was one of the most exciting days of my life up to that point. The other remarkable thing was my dad had also bought a case of grape pop the same day he hooked up our TV. Pop was a once in a blue moon sort of thing at our house so this was over the top excitement. A new TV and grape pop.
The anticipation on my party day was at a high level. I don't remember who I invited, but I can imagine that the boys might have been Paul, Gary, Rick, Jay and Jack. I am drawing a blank on the girls except my best friend Jean must have been there.
After eating and then watching a bit of the game, the boys started getting restless and loud. That made me a little nervous. My party seemed to be flopping. On a whim we all went outside. The weather was warm and I found a kite. The rest of the party time was spent running and trying to get the kite in the air.
Thinking back on that day I realize we were very innocent thirteen year olds who were balanced precariously between childhood and our teen years. I know I wanted a bit more time to be twelve when I wasn't expected to want to kiss and hold hands. Flirting was yet to be totally learned and embraced. Kite flying would all too soon be a thing of the past.
March madness which overtakes a great deal of our nation's population this time of year brought back this memory of a party that would end my childhood and propel me into a new passage of my life...the high school years. But that is a story for another time.
We had a group class picture taken in sixth grade. I was sitting next to said boy in my red plaid dress laughing at something funny he had done just as the camera was clicked. So for posterity I am sitting there with a big grin on my face and closed eyes. I might add, I was the only person in the class picture with their eyes closed.
"Mom, can I have a party?" I asked in my eighth grade year. It was March and I wanted some of the boys in my class to come to my house. I wanted girls too, but it was more about the boys.
We lived one half mile north of Shelby, so some of the boys I invited walked to my house. My mother had agreed to make sloppy joes and the premise of the party was to watch one game of the state high school basketball finals on TV. I have no idea who was playing and it probably was one of the earliest years it was televised.
Television at our house was also a relatively new thing. I was around eleven when I came home from school one day to find we had our first TV. My sister and I had previously gone to the neighbors whenever we could to watch the Mickey Mouse Club.
My father had installed an antenna and it was one of the most exciting days of my life up to that point. The other remarkable thing was my dad had also bought a case of grape pop the same day he hooked up our TV. Pop was a once in a blue moon sort of thing at our house so this was over the top excitement. A new TV and grape pop.
The anticipation on my party day was at a high level. I don't remember who I invited, but I can imagine that the boys might have been Paul, Gary, Rick, Jay and Jack. I am drawing a blank on the girls except my best friend Jean must have been there.
After eating and then watching a bit of the game, the boys started getting restless and loud. That made me a little nervous. My party seemed to be flopping. On a whim we all went outside. The weather was warm and I found a kite. The rest of the party time was spent running and trying to get the kite in the air.
Thinking back on that day I realize we were very innocent thirteen year olds who were balanced precariously between childhood and our teen years. I know I wanted a bit more time to be twelve when I wasn't expected to want to kiss and hold hands. Flirting was yet to be totally learned and embraced. Kite flying would all too soon be a thing of the past.
March madness which overtakes a great deal of our nation's population this time of year brought back this memory of a party that would end my childhood and propel me into a new passage of my life...the high school years. But that is a story for another time.
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