Soundtracks - My First "Our Song"
I don't know whether this is still "a thing" or not.
Back when I was coming up, every couple had "a song." And when you were, oh say 13 or 14, it was some syrupy sappy "I'll love you forever and ever and ever and . . . ), well you get the idea.
I mentioned Beth Fuller in a previous blog, my first "official" girl friend. Wait, a couple of thoughts here. I say "official" because I had actually had earlier girl friends. Yes, the story in my family is that my FIRST girl friend was Janice Gazilla at age (I'm guessing here) 4, maybe 5. I WAS sweet on Janice, but we never, uh consummated, the relationship (i.e., I never kissed her). Actually, I don't believe I ever spoke to her until her brother and I played baseball together when I was 16. At that point, I was double dating with him and some girl I don't remember, and Vicky Kennerly. Oh yeah, much later . . . After Janice, I'd say my first reciprocal crush was Carol Smith in 5th grade. Now, that was a major coup, because EVERY boy liked Carol. But somehow, inexplicably, when asked which boy she liked back, she picked me. I was so excited, I went to school the next day in a coat and tie, only to be picked up by my rivals in the playground and taunted in front of Carol.
To her credit, she berated the bullying behavior and cemented her position in my heart for the rest of my life. She was cute, and though she moved at the end of the year (she was an Army brat) she held a special place in my social development at that young age. You see, I couldn't believe she liked me back, and always thought that she REALLY liked my friend Bud Croker, and just didn't want to tell anyone. But in the strange way these things work in our youth, being named by Carol as THE ONE, raised my stock with all my peers.
Anyway . . . back to Beth.
My first official date was a class field trip, where Beth and I sat on the bus together and talked. That was the location of the infamous "Incense and Peppermints" conversation. What I discovered on that first date was that holding up my end of the conversation for a full day was a lot harder than I thought. I suppose this is one factor contributing to the"foot in mouth" syndrome. But I muddled through, and even endured the sometimes-oafish behavior of still another group of spurned rivals. (What is UP with little boys and their reactions to being shot down in favor of ME, anyway?)
Well, love was in the air apparently, and soon 8th Grade was just teeming with young romance. Soon, Beth and I were invited (separately, in line with social mores of the time) to a party. And at that party, I got my first taste of . . . "Spin The Bottle".
Okay . . . not really. In the lame way 8th graders might "arrange" to get to kiss another 8th grader, being selected by the bottle simply meant you got to kiss your main squeeze.
I swear to God, the first time I kissed Beth (or any girl for that matter) I missed her mouth. I sort of smooched her on the little space below her lips and above her chin. Being the trooper she was, Beth never mentioned it, and I soon got another chance to improve my technique, though this time with the lights out, huddled on the floor with four other couples.
I don't know about you, but as goofy as that all was, I knew right then that kissing was WAY better than trying to think up clever chit-chat. And in those early hormone infused moments of my puberty, it was a joy unto itself. No groaning, no mislocated hands, no naughtiness at all. Just the exhilaration of being close to someone who smelled really nice. Years later when I saw Beth at a high school reunion, she looked at me and gave me a big hug and marveled at how good I looked. It was an incredible, since I was in the midst of one of the most emotionally difficult periods of my life. She then introduced me to her husband as her first boyfriend. It was sweet and sincere and nice . . . the way it always had been.
I often regret how quickly I moved on from those early feelings. The sweet innocence of being close to another person (a GIRL person) soon dissipated into wanting to be even a little “closer”. How fast we all want to grow up, to move on. But I have found, all these years later, that as my relationship grows with my wife, that many of those feelings return to me. In some ways it is the routine moments of our lives, the simple touches of my hand, the feel of the weight in bed next to me that bring me the most comfort. It is those quiet moments of my life that give my life meaning.
So here, nearly 40 years since it became my first “Our Song”, I will name it, or at least it’s sentiment, as the way I feel today about my wife. It’s by those wild things, The Troggs.
Back when I was coming up, every couple had "a song." And when you were, oh say 13 or 14, it was some syrupy sappy "I'll love you forever and ever and ever and . . . ), well you get the idea.
I mentioned Beth Fuller in a previous blog, my first "official" girl friend. Wait, a couple of thoughts here. I say "official" because I had actually had earlier girl friends. Yes, the story in my family is that my FIRST girl friend was Janice Gazilla at age (I'm guessing here) 4, maybe 5. I WAS sweet on Janice, but we never, uh consummated, the relationship (i.e., I never kissed her). Actually, I don't believe I ever spoke to her until her brother and I played baseball together when I was 16. At that point, I was double dating with him and some girl I don't remember, and Vicky Kennerly. Oh yeah, much later . . . After Janice, I'd say my first reciprocal crush was Carol Smith in 5th grade. Now, that was a major coup, because EVERY boy liked Carol. But somehow, inexplicably, when asked which boy she liked back, she picked me. I was so excited, I went to school the next day in a coat and tie, only to be picked up by my rivals in the playground and taunted in front of Carol.
To her credit, she berated the bullying behavior and cemented her position in my heart for the rest of my life. She was cute, and though she moved at the end of the year (she was an Army brat) she held a special place in my social development at that young age. You see, I couldn't believe she liked me back, and always thought that she REALLY liked my friend Bud Croker, and just didn't want to tell anyone. But in the strange way these things work in our youth, being named by Carol as THE ONE, raised my stock with all my peers.
Anyway . . . back to Beth.
My first official date was a class field trip, where Beth and I sat on the bus together and talked. That was the location of the infamous "Incense and Peppermints" conversation. What I discovered on that first date was that holding up my end of the conversation for a full day was a lot harder than I thought. I suppose this is one factor contributing to the"foot in mouth" syndrome. But I muddled through, and even endured the sometimes-oafish behavior of still another group of spurned rivals. (What is UP with little boys and their reactions to being shot down in favor of ME, anyway?)
Well, love was in the air apparently, and soon 8th Grade was just teeming with young romance. Soon, Beth and I were invited (separately, in line with social mores of the time) to a party. And at that party, I got my first taste of . . . "Spin The Bottle".
Okay . . . not really. In the lame way 8th graders might "arrange" to get to kiss another 8th grader, being selected by the bottle simply meant you got to kiss your main squeeze.
I swear to God, the first time I kissed Beth (or any girl for that matter) I missed her mouth. I sort of smooched her on the little space below her lips and above her chin. Being the trooper she was, Beth never mentioned it, and I soon got another chance to improve my technique, though this time with the lights out, huddled on the floor with four other couples.
I don't know about you, but as goofy as that all was, I knew right then that kissing was WAY better than trying to think up clever chit-chat. And in those early hormone infused moments of my puberty, it was a joy unto itself. No groaning, no mislocated hands, no naughtiness at all. Just the exhilaration of being close to someone who smelled really nice. Years later when I saw Beth at a high school reunion, she looked at me and gave me a big hug and marveled at how good I looked. It was an incredible, since I was in the midst of one of the most emotionally difficult periods of my life. She then introduced me to her husband as her first boyfriend. It was sweet and sincere and nice . . . the way it always had been.
I often regret how quickly I moved on from those early feelings. The sweet innocence of being close to another person (a GIRL person) soon dissipated into wanting to be even a little “closer”. How fast we all want to grow up, to move on. But I have found, all these years later, that as my relationship grows with my wife, that many of those feelings return to me. In some ways it is the routine moments of our lives, the simple touches of my hand, the feel of the weight in bed next to me that bring me the most comfort. It is those quiet moments of my life that give my life meaning.
So here, nearly 40 years since it became my first “Our Song”, I will name it, or at least it’s sentiment, as the way I feel today about my wife. It’s by those wild things, The Troggs.
posted by (jim) Bo Ba Log at 7:09 AM
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