The Controversy

Part seven I couldn't have asked for a better evening, the was music playing, there was an electricity in the air, a handsome boy was at my side, and I was floating. Have you ever dreamed for something so much and hoped that maybe someday it would come true? This was my dream and I didn't want to wake up, because if I did wake up, it just might not be real. Alan stayed with me the whole rest of the evening. We just stood and talked and laughed and at one point he took my hand and held it. Ahhh! My poor heart was about to burst! Some girls I knew from Tigerettes kept walking by me and Alan. I didn't know why they kept staring at us. I later did. An old girlfriend of Alan's, Debbie, was at the dance. Debbie was in the Tigerettes with me, but I didn't know that she was an old girlfriend of Alan's until he later told me. Alan had danced with her before he found me in the front of the store. So, because Alan had danced with her previously, I guess she thought that there might be a chance for her to get back together with him. Apparently not, because Alan paid the utmost attention to the girl at his side, me. Oh, I forgot, Colette was with me too. Looking back on how I handled the evening with Colette makes me sad. Why? Because, one-I totally forgot all about Colette being with me. I had begged her to come with me and I was totally ignoring her. I was bad. I was not being a very good friend. I wish now that I had been a better friend at the time. I wish that I had included her more in our conversation, but I didn't. Alan and I danced a few dances, which put me on cloud nine, but Colette was left alone. I was totally gone to the land of "where dreams do come true", and wasn't even thinking about what Colette was doing. The other thing that I remember being sad about the evening was, two-when we went home. When it came time to go home from the dance, (which I really didn't want to leave) Alan offered to take us home. "Yes! I'll be riding in a car with a boy!", is what I thought. Now you have to understand, that's a big deal for a nerdy girl. To be a nerdy girl and be seen with a cute boy in a car--that was a step up, that was not a thing that happens to girls like me. I remember thinking that this night was just too good to be true. So off we went with me riding in the middle pressed next to Alan, our bodies touching, and Colette by my side. Seat belts were not really worn at that time, so we were all in the front seat sort of squished together. As I remember, many cars on the road didn't even have seat belts in them. Colette lived right next door to me on the south. We had been friends since our family had moved in when I was eight years old, so our friendship was going on eight years. Alan drove up in front of her house, we said goodnight to her and then we took off in the car around the corner. I'm sure that Colette went into her house being terribly sadden by the way that I handled the whole evening. What kind of friend was I? But all I could think about was- I was with Alan- and that was all that mattered. If I could see Colette right now I would say to her how sorry I am for the pain I caused her in my selfishness, and 'would she please forgive me'. Oh, the things we do in our youth, it's a good thing that we all grow up and know how to treat people better. Alan drove me around the block and came back to my house. Seems silly now that I think about it, but at the time it felt like he was bringing me home from a date. Alan walked me to the back door. We stood together leaning on our old family station wagon which was olive green with the wood-looking side paneling on it. I remember, at the time we got the car, we kids were excited to have a new car, but as you get to be a teenager a station wagon is just not cool. As we were leaning ( yes, the leaning that's on the movie, 'While You Were Sleeping') Terry walked up to the back door with her boyfriend Steve. Now, previously to the dance, I had shown my sisters Alan's picture in the yearbook, and had talked about him non-stop. When Terry saw Alan with me, she knew who he was, and her eyes got big and round when she realized what was happening. She said, "Hi Alan." I'm sure that Alan was completely taken off guard when she said that, thinking, "how does she know me?" I remember a smile playing around her lips when she acknowledged to me, with her eyes, that she knew what was up. It's that look that we women have of knowing something and we give each other this look that says, 'yes, I understand', without saying a word. Well, that was what Terry had done. Now before Terry had arrived, Alan and I were snuggling together with his arm around me and we were talking about the dance and school and other nonsensical things. Alan had been nuzzling against the side of my face with his lips and nose, and his lips had been grazing my cheek. I had massive butterflies going in my stomach by then, and my heart was racing, again. So when Terry walked up I almost felt guilty that I had been caught doing something that I shouldn't have, which I wasn't, mind you. She said goodnight to her boyfriend and started to open the door, she turned and looked at me and said, "you need to come in now Kris". I, the dutiful younger sister, said, "okay". Terry went in and I turned to Alan and said that I needed to go in now and started for the door. When I reached the screen door I looked back at him. He had on this forlorn look, his sad brown eyes looking at me. I couldn't have him looking sad, so I ran back and gave him a small kiss on his cheek, and a smile, and said goodnight. I ran back to the door, threw it open, but I stole one last glance at Alan before I went in, and I could see a smile forming on his lips, then I scurried in through the door. My arms went immediately around me, hugging myself tightly. I remember thinking that it was an awfully brave thing for me to do, to kiss him like that, but I was glad that I did. Terry came up to me and asked how I came to be with Alan. I told her that we had met at the dance. I also told her that it had been my wish that I would get to see him at the dance, and then, 'wow, I came home with him.' Now this is the controversial part. Alan swears to this day that he never was 'sweet-kissing' me on my cheek. He claims that I kissed first, but we women know what a nuzzle is, right! Or, I would have never ran back and gave him that kiss on the cheek. You know though, I've always been a sucker for those puppy brown eyes.

Summerfest

Part six Years ago Orem City used to have a city celebration called Summerfest in June. Summerfest now is a lot bigger with more fun things to do like rides, booths, and food. In the early 70's, for the Fest, Orem held a huge baseball game that seemed like the whole city attended. They also had a parade in the late afternoon down STATE STREET! It's hard to believe that they would shut down State Street for a parade, now they have it down Center Street. The Tigerettes marched with the Orem High School Band, that was something that I was not really looking forward too next year, (only the senior Tigerettes performed). It was way too hot to march on the hot pavement in the summertime (I remember Terry complaining about the heat). Orem City also held an evening parking lot dance for anyone who wanted to come, of course only the youth would come. Now it was this particular dance that I desperately wanted to go to. Why? I was going for only one reason--to see if Alan would be there! I was hoping and wishing that he would be at the dance too, because you see, I was still pining for him! You were also able to see all your friends that you hadn't seen since school was out. It was strictly a social thing, because in the 70's there wasn't much for youth to do, oh wait, that's right, there still isn't! I had talked my best friend and neighbor, Colette, to come with me. She really didn't want to go to the dance, but with my coaxing she gave in to my pleadings. I still remember what I wore. I wanted to look COOL, the word that kids use now is HOT! I had on plaid bell bottomed pants. I know, I know, what's with the plaid, sorry, it was the in-thing then. And with the plaid pants I wore a sleeveless, creamed colored, belted tunic that I had made. I had fussed with my hair and make-up until I looked perfect. I remember feeling a little nervous about going, after all, I was still shy around people. I was thankful that Colette had agreed to go with me or I wouldn't have gone. We showed up around 8 p.m. and looked around. We both felt a little awkward because Colette was shy too. The dance was held at Safeway's grocery store parking lot, where Smith's Food King is now. The band was playing loudly and a huge crowd of girls and boys were just milling about. Colette and I decided to go in the store and walk around just to kill some time and I don't know why else, just for something to do I guess. After walking around the store a bit we decided to go back outside to the parking lot-- then it happened! He was just standing there, just right outside the entrance to the store. He looked amazing. He looked tanned, with muscles bulging under his T-shirt, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, and that smile, I'll never forget that smile. I smiled back. Yes! My heart stopped for a moment, then it started racing. He reached his arm out to me, and I did the same with my arm at the same moment. It looked like it was almost planned the way that we had reached for each other. He started walking toward me and I realized that my wishes were coming true. Again. He was here, and he looked like he was happy to see me.

Are you wearing that to bed?

Part Five I am a creature of habit. I had these routines that I did, and I always did them, no matter what. My life would be terribly messed up if I didn't follow each step, so I thought, and I think that way still. Every night before retiring to get my beauty sleep, I would follow this step by step routine. First, you take off your make-up, especially the mascara because you didn't want your eyelashes to fall out. This was my thinking at the time, I later learned that your eyes lashes just dry out and get stubby. Then, you wash your face with Noxema. Noxema, the new face cleanser that was available during my growing years, now I wouldn't be caught looking at it in the store, it's full of wax I've learned. Next, I curled my hair in plastic rollers. Yes, I slept with curlers in my hair every night because the wonderful invention of electric hot rollers hadn't been invented yet! Then, I would put this zit drying solution on all the spots on my face, even if it looked like a pimple might appear, that stuff went on my face. I looked liked some sort of spotted creature because they dried white. White dots all over the face. My mother would tease me when I would go to kiss her goodnight. She'd say, "good thing no one sees you like this." So when I was kissing my mother good night this one evening she said to me, "do you have to wear that stuff on your face?" Then Terry walked up to me and said, "you're not going to wear that to bed are you?" "Of course", I said, "I have to!" Off to bed I went, but not before doing my exercises on the hard wood floor. Every evening I would do these exercises on the floor and every evening Trudy would disgustingly say, "Do you have to do that every night? I get so tired of hearing you do that!" Oh, the lengths we women go to, to look good for the opposite sex. After I finished my exercises I climbed into bed to get my beauty sleep. I wish I still had that routine of exercising at night, but it promptly went out the door with the birth of my first child. I was abruptly awakened in the wee hours of the morning by these strange girls. At first I didn't know what was going on, then my mind knew exactly what was happening, my dream was coming true, and I wasn't sleeping! Then horror came to my face, "my face, my face, I can't be seen with this stuff on my face". Ahhh! They didn't allow me to do anything to help my appearance. The only exception would have been is if I wasn't properly attired, which thankfully I was. Then off to the high school we went. My sweet sister just kept looking at me and laughing her head off because she knew, and I knew, that I would be the object of much laughter when we got to the school. It was hilarious! I found myself laughing my head off too. Fifty girls not looking their best, and I was one of them, but I didn't care, I knew that I was going to be in the Tigerettes. Having your dreams come true didn't ever happen for me, but today they did! All of us found ourselves looking around to see who made the team. As I was searching, I discovered that Marsha wasn't there. I had mixed feelings. Part of me wanted her to make it and another part of me was okay that she didn't, but the hard part was going to be when I saw her in school in just a few hours. We were all asked to wear a special ribbon to school to let everyone in the school know who made the team. The ribbon was long, blue, and had been screen printed with the word "Tigerette" on it. As you passed the other girls in the halls who tried out for the team and didn't make it, you could see the hurt on their faces. It was a bittersweet day. I wasn't looking forward to my fifth period class. I knew that it was going to be a little awkward when Marsha and I came face to face. Marsha made light of the situation saying that she didn't really care if she had made the team or not. But I knew better, she really did care, and it was written all over her face. From that point on our relationship went downhill. She started ignoring me and talking with other girls in class and I found that I had lost a budding friendship. I was willing to let the friendship go, after all, I had other things to look forward to in my life.

My First Day of High School

Well, here goes.  I had just finished summer.  I worked in concrete and was outdoors most of the time setting foundation forms and later practicing football and trying to make the team.  I had gained a pretty good tan, and my hair, (yes I had hair then), was slightly sun-bleached.  Of course, I didn't know that the "Tan and Sun-bleached" look would be such an attraction to the girls.  I always had a girlfriend from the time I was in the first grade.  My first one was named Ann.  I remember she had very light blonde hair and a red dress with white trim.  Her family moved to California towards the end of the year and I was heartbroken.  I decided at that time, not to get too close to girls, though I still liked being chased by them and wanted to say I had a girlfriend.  Looking back, I realized, I was quite a serious and deep thinking person. I have always been that way.  Deciding on the name of my first son while in the 8th grade. Because I liked girls in Jr. High, I always had a "girlfriend" around me.  It was kind of a game.  Give them a ring.  Hold hands and walk around the school.  Break up after some magically determined time, and then start the process all over.

The first day of High School was no exception, I had a girlfriend that was a carry over from Jr. high.  Her name was Marsha. She was very cute and very nice.  She was really my first "real" girlfriend.  Taught me how to kiss and all that stuff, but I wasn't married to her, and I felt I had some freedom to at least be "nice" to the other girls.  High School began, however, with the return of my worst nightmare.  I didn't even know his name.  Just a big, tall, tightly curled, red-haired, bully.  My nemisis from Jr. High.  He picked on me all through 7th and 8th grade.  Now I wasn't really afraid of him, but I was so shy and embarrassed, that I would just stand there and let him do his thing.  I had been playing football the last half of summer and as I walked up the front lawn of the High School on that first day, all my football buddies were around me. The bully kid came up from behind and took my wallet out from my back pocket.  Now, as I turned around and saw him, my stomach kind of churned like the old butter maker I used to turn when I was younger.  I could feel my face going flush and tiny beads of sweat began to form on my brow and just below my nose.  I knew with all my football buddies around, I had to make a stand.  I could no longer ignore him.  I was playing line backer on the football team, and today was my first game.  I couldn't play tuff on the field and turn my back on a bully right in front of my friends.  I said, "Give me my wallet back",  He said, "What ya going to do about it?"  Oh boy, here it is, that defining moment when you know, it's either do something now or slip into the deep recess of total nerdyville.  I took a deep breath, made up my mind, and decided; if I die, I die.  I walked with a show of boldness right up to him, grabbed the front of his collar, pulled his face down to mine until our noses were just barely touching, and said words I had never said before; "If you don't give me back my wallet right now, I'm going to knock the "S_ _ t" right out of you.  At that moment I said it and I meant it.  He knew I meant it too.  He returned the wallet and told his friends I was not worth it. I knew he was the scared one.  From then on, he avoided me completely.  Whew!!

Now, getting back to the real story of my first day...   the first time I saw Kristy. ( to be continued)

"Sew....do you want to try out?"

Part four Fourth Term arrives and I find myself and Marsha in the same Home Economics Class--Sewing. Alan moved on to a shop class and I hardly got to see him except at lunch time in the hall with Marsha. I was excited to be in a sewing class. I loved to sew, but I shared the class with Marsha which made me uncomfortable. Then lo and behold, she was placed at the same sewing table with me. Now, is that fate, karma, or just my bad luck? So I decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. At first we were a little leery of each other, but we soon came to know where we stood with one another and started to enjoy each other's company. At the end of the school year tryouts for Tigerettes ( a marching/performing club) were held. Now, I definitely was going to try out because my sister, Terry, was in the Tigerette Club and I wanted to be just like her. From watching the experiences that Terry had in the club, I knew that being in the club was something that I hoped would come true for me. It was a coveted club to be a part of, all the "popular" girls seemed to be on the team, and you got to do fun things like being out of class, traveling to different schools, and the best part, being with the athletic teams, which meant- BOYS! Tryouts were pretty stiff, and not everyone who tried out made the team. So, one day in sewing class, I brought up the subject of trying out with Marsha. She said that she was interested in trying out but was a little nervous about it. I told her I was nervous too, but that we should work together in preparing for the upcoming day. We stayed after school for the practices and worked hard on the marching. The hardest part was getting the marching down, you didn't want to look like a dork when you marched. And of course the splits, which you were required to be able to do. The "Tryout" day came, and man was I nervous. Terry had previously told me to just do the best I could and to keep smiling no matter what..."even if you mess up, just keep smiling." There were over 250 girls who were trying out that day. As we checked in we were all given a number to pin on us. (sounds so much like TV Land doesn't it?) We were all placed into groups alphabetically, so Marsha and I were in the same group together because our last name started with the same letter. Everyone was taught a short routine in just a few minutes and we had to performed it back immediately. Stress!!!! That part was hard for me but I did pretty good. I never found out how Marsha did, I was too nervous for myself. The splits were easy, the marching was easy too, I thought. All that practicing with Terry had paid off in my performance . You had to know how to do a correct right turn and left turn, they were both different. I had practiced a lot on the turns and could do them pretty good. The turns and marching were where a lot of girls messed up. Some girls looked pretty retarded (sorry- but it's true!) I felt lucky that I had my own personal trainer in my sister Terry, but of course you HAD to have talent. At the end of the tryouts we never found out if we made it or not. The judges would write down your number if you had made it through the tryouts. They also informed us that those who made the team would find out next week. UGHHH! We had to wait? I recall that waiting was really hard for me, the inpatient me wanted to know now! The judges never told us how we would find out but the information somehow leaked out. Those that made the team would be kidnapped at 5 in the morning and taken to the school. The only drawback in our information was that we didn't know what day that would be. Each day was waited in anticipation. Marsha and I would talk every day hoping that we would make the team.

Footsie in the Dark

Part Three Second Term--Driver's Ed. Three classes were brought together in one huge classroom, and who should be in that class together? Me, Alan, and Marsha, but I got the better end of the deal. Marsha was placed way at the end of the classroom, and in the back too. Now here's the best part....I sat right next to Alan right by the door, and just the two of us were together at the same table. How could I be so lucky? The boy of my dreams all to myself for one class period. I looked forward to fifth period all day. The class was interesting and gross at times, but the fun part was when the lights went out. The lights would go out and the room would be completely dark except for the movie. And get this---Alan would play footsie with me during the gross movies! Yes, he was still flirting, and now under the nose of his girlfriend. I felt a little guilty (only a little) because Alan's girlfriend was not too far away. She had her spies out though, keeping an eye on the two of us. The so-called spies would try and listen to what we would talk about, but I don't think that they ever found out about the footsie part. Marsha became jealous of us, and rightly so, because Alan and I were becoming good friends. We would share a lot about ourselves and I remember wishing that he was my boyfriend, not Marsha's. Alan made me feel comfortable about opening up about myself, which was the first time that I had ever done that. When he shared things about himself I thought that his life sounded so full and exciting. All the adventures and experiences that he had made my life sound so dull and boring, which it was. He was wonderful I thought and I was falling hard for him. He remained true to his girlfriend, but she was consumed with jealously of our friendship together. Alan and Marsha would be together in cross hall during lunch just hanging out, and I would walk by on my way to the cafeteria and say "hi" to them. He would say "hi" back but Marsha became so mad she would say (I found out later) "Why don't you just go after her!" I wish that he would have.

Marsha, Marsha, Marsha

Part Two His name was Alan, and I was in love. The competition was getting more intense every day. Do you know how hard it is to get the attention of a boy when two other girls are competing with you? And to top it off, they were more outgoing than I was. Only a small share of attention came my way. But I thought I had died and gone to heaven when he was placed in the desk right next to me a few weeks later, and the other two moved to new desks in the room. Ha! I was trying to get the nerve to ask him to Sadie's (a high school dance, girls choice), but I was too scared. He was so nice, sometimes he even walked me to my locker after class. He was paying attention to just me during those walks. Yes! I thought I just might have a chance with him. Then that fateful day came...I had gotten to school early one day, and I was killing time walking the halls till the bell rang. Then I saw him and he wasn't alone. He was with a cute brunette with his arms wrapped around her. They were both laughing, looking like they were having a good time. I'll never forget that day, I was crushed and mad all at the same time. Here he was, with this cute girl, and he never mentioned a girlfriend to us doting girls in 5th period. Her name was Marsha, and she looked like all the other rich girls in school-- wearing a darling purple mini-dress with a white collar. She had on white knee-hi's and penny loafers with shiny pennies. Typical. She was cute, rich, and had the boy of my dreams' arms wrapped around her. I was furious! How dare he? Was he just leading me, JoLene, and Cozette on? When 5th period rolled around I couldn't even look at him. He could tell that something was up because I wasn't even giving him the time of day. Then he asked...What's wrong? Then it happened...it wasn't even planned...I didn't mean to, but I did a very childish thing...I stuck my tongue out at him. Not just a little stick out of the tongue... No, it was the whole tongue! He had no clue. Why did she do that he probably wondered? What's got her panties all in a bunch? I was mad, disheartened, and crushed. How could he be unfaithful to his girlfriend? From his walking me to my locker, flirting with me in class as well as the other two girls. I don't really remember what happened after that. I know that I came to accept the fact he had a girlfriend. We remained friends. JoLene even asked him to Sadies, I found out later, but he turned her down. Marsha hadn't asked him yet but he knew she was going to. I knew better than to even try. The term ended and we went to new classes, and there went my chance to see him everyday. So I thought.

The Beginning from Twinkles' Point of View

I appreciated the comments from my family about Alan and I starting a blog. Alan and I will be sharing this blog. He will be writing from his point of view on things, and I from my own point of view. I wanted to write about how Alan and I met, and like Tracie--Our story.. So let's begin... Part One.. Let's begin with my first day of school at Orem High. First of all, I was nervous... Why was I nervous, you may ask? Here's why... 1--There were going to be new students from Orem Jr. High-- I was from old Lincoln Jr. High. (which originally was a High School, which is the school that my grandfather and father went to for High School) So new students from a Jr. High, then of course, the Juniors and Seniors and not knowing hardly anyone, make you feel lonely. 2--What I was wearing--I was wearing a plaid tan and rust jumper with a rust blouse under. It was homemade by my sweet mother. Now don't get me wrong, mom was a beautiful seamstress. But....all the other girls were wearing Villager skirts, oxford shirts in pastel colors, white knee hi's, and mahogany penny loafers with new shiny pennies in them. Now if you were dressed like that you came from money. All the rich girls dressed like that, or they wore store bought mini-dresses that had white collars. All the dresses were above the knee about 3-4 inches, some even higher. All my dresses and skirts were to the middle of my knee, by order of father. Now I liked wearing skirts because when you got to school you could roll the bands of the skirts up and shorten your skirt. Then you just had to roll them down when you got home. Dad never caught on to that one, thank goodness. I wore dresses and skirts to school everyday (except the last 6 months of my Senior year) and what you wore really mattered whether you were accepted by the other students or not. So I was nervous about what I was wearing my first day. 3--I was shy-- I hardly talked to anyone. Almost everyone from my Jr. High knew that I had a strict father, so even the boys steered clear of me. Very few people talked to me, but I didn't like a lot of attention on me either. I never raised my hand in any classroom my whole high school career. Too scared that I would say something wrong and that people would laugh at me. 4--I wore glasses-- I hated wearing glasses. Still do! Thank goodness horned rimmed glasses aren't still the fad. I was called "Four Eyes" until I finished high school. Many times I tried to do my school work without glasses. Boys didn't like girls who wore glasses. And my glasses were ugly. So the first day of school--I wore my long homemade dress, and my ugly glasses, but I did have the white knee-hi's. I was your classic NERD! The only thing that was all right about my appearance was my mom allowed me to wear make-up --mascara, eyeliner, and vaseline on the lips. Everyone was checking each other out. The new sophomores checking out the sophomores from Orem Jr. The girls were also checking out the Jr. and Sr. boys. The Jr. and Sr. boys paid no attention to the sophomore girls. It was not COOL to be interested in a underclassman. There were a few exceptions of course. Fifth period came....Now, I had been doing what every other girl was doing...checking out the CUTE boys in all my classes, and fifth period was no exception. I was sitting with 2 other girls, JoLeen Flandro, and Cozette Ward from Lincoln Jr. High. We were sitting in a row together. I was looking around the room when to my left I spotted HIM a few rows over and back. He had the cutest smile, twinkling brown eyes, was tan, and sooooo cute! He was wearing a striped cream and brown T-shirt, Levi's, and of course penny loafers with shiny pennies. I was immediately taken. I tapped JoLene in front of me and told her to check out the cute boy in the back with the striped cream and brown shirt T-shirt. Her mouth fell open...She tapped Cozette in front of her and told her to check the boy in the back of the room. All three of us were stealing glances at him through the whole class period. Of course he knew that he was being watched, what boy wouldn't notice girls stealing glances at them. He just kept smiling that flirty smile the whole time. I can hardly remember what the class had been about. I do recall we had to do some speed reading in the class. So now the challenge was on between the three of us. Who would win? Who would approach him first? Stay tuned for part 2.

Getting Started

Hi, Well I'm finally getting started with our blog.  With the encouragement of our daughter Heather, and her expertise in setting up blogging, we're on board.  First of all, I, Kris, have a hard time- taking time- to write. I like reading other people's entries because they are fun to read.  I might as well mention right now, I am a boring writer!  That's a fact!  Heather, Tracie, Cheryl, Austin-in my book you rock in the writing area.  But, on the other hand,  this will be a first in journal writing for me.  I do have a hard time in finding fun and interesting words to make my writing worth reading.  So if you end up reading my blogs it will be just because you love me. Right?  NO frills here, or fancy entries, or even pictures.  I have yet to learn how to post pictures.  My dear husband has yet to teach me how to maneuver through iphoto. I need to sit down and learn, which those of you that know me, I have a hard time just sitting down. So let the blogging begin.......