One of my oldest friends, Hilda...

Our bedroom windows faced each other.

We would take out the screens and sit

on the window sills talking late into the night.

Later, we would just crawl out the windows,

sit on the damp grass and solve world problem's

including our own.  We spoke of the differences

in our families; we were each the oldest, she had

4 siblings, I had two.

Her father was the General, the belt snapper; my mother

was the switch lady, and we had to cut our own switches.

Her mom was the sweet, quiet, walk behind the husband kind of wife.

My father was the gentle breeze caressing hurt feelings type of man.

We lived in the boondocks, but we always found things to do

AFTER our chores were done.  Yeah, we were raised that way.

Usually, we yelled to one another "Are you almost finished?"

"No, but I'm hurrying as fast as I can."

When we were for 14, a young couple decided to use the

community center as a hangout for the teens.  We

named it Teen Town, and that's where we headed

every Friday and Saturday night when we were allowed.

Cokes were 5 cents, and chips ten cents; we usually

split the chips.  As word spread, more teens started

showing up; some we knew, others we didn't.

One night Hilda and I were commiserating over the

lack of boys our age.  And that's when two

brothers walked in. We'd never seen them before,

but we were blown away.  They looked like hoodlums

in their leather jackets and boy were they swaggers;

they walked like they owned the place.  But they were SO cute.
Hilda and Ipinched our cheeks, put on more lipstick and straightened

our hair.

Jackie was the oldest with his not much younger brother, Wayne.

I told Hilda, "Jackie is mine".  I fiddled with my bobby socks,

and then all of a sudden Leather Jacket boy was standing in

front of me.  He asked me to dance as the record player had

started playing songs like "The Twist" and "At the Hop" and

"Yakety Yak".  I couldn't dance a lick, but I didn't care!

Evidently he didn't care either, 'cause we married in l96l

when we were l9 in Fort Benning, Georgia
by the chaplain on the base.

One of happiest days of my life.

Hilda and I still talk occasionally, and always

about that special moment in time.

And, I can still smell that leather jacket.
:)