Facebook has really had me thinking...reminiscing is more like it...all these ways to find your way back to the 70's and 80's and elementary school and friendship pins and having a crush a boy that sang silly lyrics to crazy songs...
Recently, I've found yet even more childhood friends through the wonders of facebook...I chose not to contact Laurie B. or Jeni P. (they used to pull my hair out and pinch me while in line for gym class...we'll just leave them in cyberspace) but, I did find Joey C. and Nikki K. I found out what Tim P. was up to and where Jody K. moved to...
It made me remember looking for four leaf clovers on the school corner...or swinging on "party lines" at recess...and then moving away in the 6th grade and making a whole new set of friends who sweetly nicknamed me "Cow"...(I will save that story for another day:)
While in this time of euphoric memories, I thought I'd share with you some stories...and we will begin with Humiliation Story#1, because I thought you'd enjoy a good laugh.
There are many stories that lead up to this one particular event that will forever be filed in my memory...for example, becoming a member of the chess club, the lunch clan that studied Calculus, and the aforementioned nickname "cow"...
I'm not sure how it happened, but I was nominated for Homecoming Court...not in line for the queen, mind you...my step-sister acquired that title and rightly so...but, for the life of me, I can't figure what possessed the student body to put me as Senior Rep that year...I was, for all intents and purposes, a nerd. I fought tooth and nail for a 4.0 and spent my evenings in study groups or walking the blocks around my house with my best friend, Dan while we reviewed theorums and postulates...
Nevertheless, I came home that day dumbfounded and informed my mom that I supposed I'd be going to Homecoming now and I'd have to get a dress...I can show you the picture...I'm the one with lace up to my neck...did I mention that I had some issues with my appearance...let's just say that XL was the only size in my closet, which was abouuuuut 3 sizes too big for my frame...
I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy the attention...I'm a people pleaser remember and I like it when people like me...I felt liked:)
I come from a very small town...in fact, I graduated from the same high school as did my grandfather and my parents...my history, math, typing and govt. teachers were the same ones that taught my mom and dad...and with small towns come BIG parades...OHHHH the joys of the homecoming parades...people line the streets of our town, out come the coolers, the lawn chairs, the posterboard signs...they all watch in anticipation to see the
I, along with the other girls, had my large dress (seen above) with my little bouquet of flowers. My Biology teacher dutifully drove the convertible on which I was perched. My younger sisters had made me practice a silly wave before the procession...It was like a dream...the crowds cheering, my class ahead of me in the back of a pick up truck drivin' down the side streets of Small Town USA...
and then the car stalled...
My smile stayed plastered on my face as Mr. D diligently tried to get the car in motion...I watched as the pickup truck got further and further away...I heard the calls from the people in the lawn chairs on the side of the street, "better hurry up there...." "You're laggin' behind girl!..."
I continued my wave...
Mr. D decided that the best course of action was to rev the engine as much as he could while he was in neutral...and rev he did...for it he received cheers and "woohoos" from the side lines...All the guys in the back of the pick up truck had their fists in the air cheering him on...willing him to catch up...
all the while, I sat, perched on the top of the back seat of the convertible in my lacey dress and little pump shoes nearly popping holes in the leather of the seats as I felt the vibration of the motor revving...
And then he threw it into Drive...
what happened next is really all a blur...I can only explain it as one of those postulates or theories from Physics...or just Newton's first law of motion...
the car took off and Mr. D was delighted that he could catch up with our class...what he didn't realize is that I had flown off the back of the car and landed in a heap in the middle of the road...
I remember thinking, "did I REALLY just fly off the back of the car in the middle of the parade?" and "Man, my behind hurts like crazy."
The people in my town, do what all people do that come from a community like ours...you are family, you belong to everyone...and so there was a swooping, a swarm, if you will, of people coming to mother me, carry me, help me...and of course, all those fist raising guys from the pick up truck...they became my protectors to the end of the parade and pushed that car, all the while holding me in place while I resumed my perch, to the end of the procession. I'm not quite sure when Mr. D realized what had happened...perhaps when all the boys jumped from the truck and came toward him at the speed of lightning...or maybe it was the collective *GASP* from the crowds...nevertheless...we made it to the finish line...
Dan, (my above mentioned best friend at the time) took me to the Homecoming dance either that night or the next??...he had the sore feet to prove it, as I had injured my tailbone quite significantly and just let him "carry" me while we danced the "court dance".
There were a few that got the whole thing on tape, along with a few *choice* words...my family thought it was funny to watch it in slow motion...over and over and over and over again...they even sent it in to that wonderful show America's Funniest Home Videos...fortunately, it was NOT chosen to grace television screens world wide...and for that I am thankful, as I think I could only handle so much embarrassment...
Hope you enjoyed!
