High School Heartache - Part 12

Eric was a pretty athletic guy and he took an interest in cycling while we dated. He used to ride his mountain bike from his school, and sometimes his house, all the way to my school, just to see me. It was very endearing. I mean, these little cycling trips would easily be 25 miles round trip and he did it several times.

The week after prom, I was at school having a perfectly delightful day, when suddenly my world came crashing down. My friend "K" pulled me aside around lunchtime and said that she needed to tell me something. She sat me down and explained that she heard something disturbing and after researching it, she determined that it was probably true. Eric had cheated. And he had cheated BIG TIME. And it was with his best friend, my classmate. I was devastated.

To make matters worse, Eric had decided to surprise me at school that very day via one of his cycling adventures. He showed up and all I could do was cry and tell him to leave. He didn't understand. He had the most hurt look on his face, but I didn't care, because he had just broken my heart and left with a piece of it...forever.

Later that night, Eric called me at home. He begged to know what was wrong and I told him that I knew about him and his friend. Silence. "Eric, I know about the two of you. Did you hear me?" Silence. "I don't know what you're talking about." Yeah right. "I know that you cheated on me, just admit it." More silence. "I didn't cheat on you and whoever told you that I did is a liar."

I told Eric that I didn't want to see him anymore. I could tolerate a lot of things, but cheating wasn't one of them. He tried calling several times and continued to deny my accusation, but I just wasn't hearing it.

Since our paths had no reason to cross, I didn't see or hear from Eric for a long time. We ran into each other at the local mall over a year later and it got me thinking about him again. We started talking later that year and started seeing each other again "unofficially". That lasted for a few months until I met my hubby and then I left Eric in the dust.

Fast forward 9 years and I'm in an accessories aisle in a home improvement store. I'm searching for outlet covers for my newly painted living room and a salesman approaches me to ask if I need help. I glance upwards and can't believe my eyes. It's him. It's Eric. We chit-chat for a couple of minutes and trade stories of how happy we are. He's married with twins on the way. Good for him. We walk away from each other for what I'm pretty sure will be the last time.

Fast forward another 3 years. We meet again and trade phone numbers this time. Hubby is well aware that Eric & I are talking now, but I assure him that it's nothing more than 2 old friends catching up. And it's been exactly that. We talk periodically and try to keep up with each other. He actually brought his kids to my oldest child's birthday party last year and it was fine.

With all the time that has passed and everything that's happened, I now know that he & I will never be anything more than friends. Although, I still wonder to this day if he was lying or telling the truth about cheating on me back in high school. Maybe one of these days, I'll get up the courage to ask him and get the final answer to that one last question.

High School Heartache - Part 11

It was March of 1992 and Eric & I had been dating for several months now. With each passing day, I began to wonder more and more if he could seriously be "the one". Part of me knew it was silly to wonder such a serious thing at such a young age, but things were too good to be true. Now yes, we had our ups and downs, but what couple doesn't.

Eric's birthday had arrived and having him fit in with my friends was really important to me. So, I hatched a plan to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I planned a birthday party at his house and invited several of my friends to attend. Aside from the logistics of trying to get my friends to Eric's house, I think things went pretty well. We all had a pretty good time and I felt much better about my best girlfriends knowing how serious I was about this guy.

As my friends all took off for the night, Eric's mom & sister retreated upstairs, leaving us alone downstairs. All of a sudden, this song that I absolutely LOVE began playing and we slow danced. Time stood still. The song was "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams. It's from the Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner. The song in itself is incredibly romantic, but for some reason, it left an indelible mark on my psyche. I can literally to this day, close my eyes while hearing that song and feel like I'm right back in that moment. I knew that in that moment, it felt like we were the only 2 people on the earth and that we would be together forever.

A couple of weeks passed and prom season was now upon us. This was my junior prom and I was beside myself with excitement. I found this really cute short black velvet dress with these poofy red satin things as the sleeves. (Hey, it was style back then. Don't judge me.) I loved the dress, but what I didn't love was my hair that evening. I had an aunt who was a "hairdresser" (translate: she catered to blue-hairs who didn't mind the beehive look of their youth) and I trusted her to create something memorable. I got memorable alright. Just not in the good way. So, hair disaster notwithstanding, Eric picked me up and the evening of magic began. He was so handsome in his tux. I adorned him with his boutonniere and he placed the corsage on my wrist. The corsage had white baby rose buds on it. We hopped into the car and drove off. I still remember what I had for dinner that evening. Chicken Teriyaki. After a lovely dinner, we went to prom and danced the night away. I was supposed to go to a friend's house for a supervised "after-prom" party, but we all know that didn't happen. Instead, Eric & I went to another friend's house, with 2 other couples, and had our own party. It was great.

It was also the last happy memory I have of our relationship. Little did I know that things were about to turn really ugly and very soon.

High School Heartache - Part 10

Our relationship continued to escalate and with each passing day, I really began to realize just how much I cared about this guy. Was it possible that those 3 little words that can make or break couples would ever pass my lips? Circumstances were certainly heading in that direction. It wasn't too long before we were throwing around "I love you" as often as "How are you?" Things were starting to get really serious.

Something that really touched me deeply was his interest in my family. He was a sweetheart to my little brother and he loved coming to my grandparents house and spending time with us all. He especially took an interest in my mom. Actually communicating with my mom. See, my mom is completely deaf and has been since birth. She lip reads really well, but sign language is her first language. Eric was very interested in learning sign language so that he could communicate with my mom. How sweet is that?! We ended up taking classes together, so I could brush up on my skills and he could learn from scratch. It was a real bonding experience and, of course, it made my mom fall in love with him.

Valentine's Day of 1992 came and I was so excited. I was actually going to have a boyfriend on this horrible holiday! He showed up at my grandparents house that afternoon and my heart skipped a beat. He gave me a rose and then handed me a small box. Oh my, I think I'm going to pass out. I opened it to reveal this beautiful ring. It had a simple gold band and a beautiful blue stone. (Blue was my favorite color back then) It wasn't fancy or expensive, but it was priceless to me. Now, it wasn't a promise ring or anything like that, it was just something that he saw and thought I would love...and he was right. I wore it ALL the time.

We began spending a lot of time at the movie theater. That was my first "real" job in high school and I'll tell you now, my kids will NOT be allowed to work in a movie theater until they're 18. I say this because the ability to see movies for free is not a good thing for a very impressionable teen. A movie that we saw TOO MANY times in the theater was Basic Instinct. If you've never seen this movie, well, it certainly leaves a lasting impression. Suffice it to say, there's a reason it was rated "R". Check it out on IMDB if you need more details. Anyway, this is where another song comes into my repertoire. There's a particularly memorable club scene in the movie where rave music is playing in the background. The song is called "Rave the Rhythm" and it's by a British band called Channel X. I love that song and so did Eric.

As you can see, music really began to play an integral part in our relationship. Eric's birthday was about to happen and that event would produce a moment with a song that haunts me to this day.

High School Heartache - Part 9

So, after finding out that our cats had the same name, I was totally convinced that I had found my soul mate. Call it young, naive, puppy love, but it was so much more than that. We had a deep seeded connection that didn't need words. We could sit in silence, enjoying the comfort of each other's fingers intertwined for hours just as much as we enjoyed going to big gatherings of people and forgetting that we weren't the only 2 people there. It was magic. However, with all magical things, there is always a dark force working in the background to wreak havoc. Our relationship was no different.

We came from 2 very different backgrounds. He came from a broken home and had a wonderful mom who was struggling to make ends meet. Bless her, she worked her fingers to the bone and I think strived to be more of a friend to her kids than an authority figure. I, on the other hand, had 2 parents that fought constantly and a Dad who was entirely too over-protective. It made dating a real challenge. That is, until I got my drivers license. Once I was mobile, the game was on. It was time to start REALLY dating.

Eric had a good friend that had been there for him since childhood. She, yes SHE, was a classmate of mine. I didn't really know her and honestly, she was someone that we kind of made fun of. She was the quiet, brooding, artistic type that kept to herself and therefore, bred all kinds of speculation about what she was really like. Rumors flew about that she was a lesbian, which honestly, put me at ease. I mean, at 16 years old, who really wants their boyfriend's best friend to be a girl?

One night, pretty early on in our courtship, Eric suggested that we hang out at his best friend's house. I wasn't opposed to it and besides, I would much rather be there WITH him. We talked for a bit and then I don't know what came over us. All I'll say is that his friend got a bit more than she bargained for when Eric & I proceeded to make out for quite sometime, while she was in the room. (And it was just making out. This series is rated PG-13 for heaven sakes!) I know, shame on us, but it was crazy. Speaking of which, this was the first time in our relationship where a song made a permanent impression on my psyche. I will never forget that while we were kissing, Seal's "Crazy" played in the background. That was just indicative of the whole situation. We were crazy to be acting like this, crazy to be at her house, crazy to think that this wasn't going to come back to haunt me sometime in the future.

High School Heartache - Part 8

Ok Kat, here it is. The installment that you've been begging for. For anyone else who has just stumbled upon this, we're taking a little trip down memory lane and visiting some of the more notable relationships from my youth. If you would like to catch up, check the right hand side under "My Favorite Posts" and you'll see the first 7 chapters. And now, back to our story...

Eric

It was the summer of 1991. I was working at a church camp and relishing being away from home for 10 weeks. Talk about sweet freedom. I had spent most of the summer pining for a certain fellow staff worker and drowning my sorrows with the melodies emanating from my Walkman. As I dozed by the lake on most afternoons, I thanked my lucky stars to have this opportunity to bask in nature, without a care in the world. It was heaven.

As the summer came to a close, I made arrangements to meet a friend upon my return to civilization. School was about to start back and she had eyes for a guy that she had met earlier that summer. She wanted me to meet him and I obliged. (Anything to get out of the house for an evening) Little did I know that this evening out was going to be the start of a whole new direction of my life.

As I approached my friend "G", there he was. Tall, dark & handsome. He wouldn't make eye contact with me at first. When he did, I was blown away by these piercing eyes. He flashed a quick smile and then sat and listened to G & I catch up on a summer's worth of gossip. I couldn't stop looking at him. He was so quiet, so painfully shy. And so hard to read. Was he bored to tears? Did he think I was pretty? Was I ever going to hear his voice?

He sat patiently for what I'm sure was at least an hour while G & I "girl-talked". He did finally interject a couple of witty comments here & there, but for the most part, he just observed. I didn't really find out that much about him during our meeting. He told me that he went to a school close by and lived a pretty good distance away from me, but there was something about him that was intoxicating. I left for home that evening wondering "What just happened?" I was about to get the answer I was hoping for.

G called me the next day and asked the million dollar question. "So, what did you think? Are you interested?" Duh. Apparently my starry eyed gazes and puddle of drool weren't indication enough. "Yeah", I replied. Now, I know what you're thinking. I said that G was the one that had eyes for Eric to start with. I think that it was partly true, but in the end, she realized that they would never be more than friends. And so, she then stepped into the matchmaker role. She gave him my number and then the roller coaster ride began. We talked on the phone incessantly. Long conversations about our very different backgrounds and our many common interests. There was 1 story in particular that still gives me the shivers to this day.

When I was about 8 years old, I had an obsession with cats. My very first cat was a black & white mixed breed that I loved dearly. She met an untimely demise while I was away at Girl Scout camp one summer, but I never forgot her. When Eric & I met, he had just lost his beloved cat that he had loved since he was a little kid. When I told him what my cat's name was, he froze. And what he said next, sent me reeling. His cat had a Cherokee name because his mother's side of the family was Cherokee Indian. The translation of his cat's name, was my cat's name. This had to be fate.

{to be continued}

We interrupt this life for a blast from the past

Ok, so I promised you an update and here it is. First, let me thank my BFF for being the really nosy incredible researcher that she is. I am still AMAZED at how quickly she can get info on the internet, when I have tried for months and failed.

First, the Lee story seems to have struck quite a chord. He really was a jerk when we were teens, but apparently his big ego paid off for him later in life because he's quite successful. Apparently he's a financial planner in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (Rhea, are you in the safe zone?) and has been written up in many periodicals for his "revolutionary approach" that his business takes. I'm also quite sure that he wrote the copy on his website because no one could talk about the greatness of Lee, more than Lee himself. I wish him well!

Now, the really juicy news. The purple paisley guy is back in the picture! Yes, despite my better judgement, I emailed him yesterday after my wonderful BFF furnished me with his email addy in a matter of seconds. I'm telling you gang, she missed her calling as a P.I.! Anyway, I sent him a very brief message that went a little something like this.

Hi PPG! I know it's been a lot of years since I trampled all over your feelings we've spoken, but here I am! If you would like to find out where I live so you can send me dead flowers catch up, then email me back.

And within minutes, I had a response! "I would love to." Oh my goodness, this can't be! He's forgiven me and actually wants to know what I'm up to these days. So, I wrote this long email last night, essentially glazing over the major events of the last decade (and change) and he wrote me back today with some answers that I've been looking for. And for a moment, I was reminded of why I loved reading his letters all those years ago.

For those on the edge of your seat about the book, he said he never finished it and doesn't plan to return to it. Phew! Did you hear that sigh of relief from me? He also pointed out that he's married with a child and crazy, head over heels in love with his wife. That was nice to hear. However, this next part is what struck me as so sentimental. Frankly, I didn't know guys had this gene, so I was totally taken off guard. He said that while taking his family to a beautiful European destination last year, he thought of me. And then he asked if I remembered why. (And I don't, so we'll be visiting that story at a future date) He also then said that a specific musical artist's songs always remind him of me. Wow, and I thought girls were the only ones who associated music with deep seeded emotional events and memories! (More on that phenomenon with the upcoming Eric story) And then, the clincher. He apparently lives quite close to my younger brother and would love to get together the next time I'm there visiting. Oh my, I just don't know about that. So, there you have it!

Now, I simply must go cue up my mix tape and start crafting the Eric story before Kat pays me a visit to personally ream me for leaving you guys hanging. Ha ha!

High School Heartache - Part 7

Tom

It was the summer of 1990 and I found myself in summer school due to a lackluster performance in freshman English. I was so delighted to arrive that first day and see this adorable blond slacker named Tom. To say that he was laid-back would be such an enormous understatement. Tom was simply cruising through life until he could get the heck outta dodge. And bless him, he was willing to indulge the starry-eyed giddy behavior of a younger classmate.

After a couple of weeks in summer school, I somehow managed to convince Tom that giving me a ride home on his motorcycle was a really good idea. He reluctantly agreed and I hopped on the bike without a care in the world. That is, until we pulled up to my grandparent's house and my grandmother saw me hopping off the motorcycle. I sat for the next hour while being lectured on the multitude of reasons that my behavior was unacceptable and told that I had better just put this guy out of my mind. He wasn't going to be rid of me that easily!

I spent the rest of that summer school fawning all over poor Tom and he was very nice to me. I think he may have had a younger sister that he hoped would be treated equally as nice by one her first crushes. Anyhow, I was about to put Tom's nice-ness to the test!

This particular summer brought the wonderful Jimmy Buffett to town for an outdoor concert. Of course, my overbearing father insisted on accompanying me to the event, but I found ample opportunities to sneak away and hang out with my friends. We danced, we sang, & we had a GREAT time despite the mudpools created by the excessive rain earlier in the day. I'll never forget that concert. However, the rest of that evening gets a little murky. Here's what I can remember.

I think my BFF was supposed to be spending the night at my house and we were NOTORIOUS for sneaking out of my parents home and wreaking havoc all over town. Ok, maybe not havoc, but having a darn good time. We, at some point, decided that we wanted to go visit our friend Mo and had no transportation or licenses for that matter. So, Tom arrived with his chariot to cart our sad sacks to our destination. He was nice enough to drop us off at the front gate of this estate and ask if we were ok and then he took off. Big mistake.

Mo was living with her mom at her mom's boyfriend's house mansion. This guy was at least 70 years old at the time and he was rather, shall we say, portly. His name was Bob, but we called his Blob. What can I say, we were name callers at 15 yrs old. Anyway, we arrived at Blob's estate a bit after midnight and then tried to figure out how we were going to get into his house to see Mo without ending up in juvenile detention waking the neighborhood. We made it inside and then attempted to climb the enormous staircase to Mo's room. Suffice it to say, I fell up the stairs and it's a really old house, so my crash was amplified exponentially. I swear my heart stopped before I realized we had better haul tail up to Mo's room and fast! We made it, only to discover that Mo wasn't home! (Editor's note: I was a hell-raiser as a teen and did a lot of stupid things, for which I'm sure I will be paid back for ten-fold by my 2 daughters.)

So, since this was before every teen had a cell phone and we certainly had no idea where she could be, we started panicking to figure out how we were going to get home. And yes, I did think of calling Tom, but I didn't call him. That would have been mortifying. We ended up calling a taxi and having to pay a lot of money for this shady character to drive us home at 3am. You would think that we would have learned our lesson about sneaking out, but alas, not quite. A couple of weeks after that little excursion, we were busted big time for sneaking out and seriously didn't think I would live to see my 16th bday. I'll tell that story some other time.

Anyhow, Tom & I wrapped up summer school and he did noticeably avoid me in class after the midnight drop-off at Mo's house, so I'm sure my "little sister cute-factor" had worn off by that point. After he graduated high school, I'm not sure what happened to him. Knowing him, he probably packed a bag, hopped on his motorcycle and is probably beach bumming somewhere. I'm sure he's probably still coasting through life.

So, my sophomore year in high school was kind of a dry spell. I had a couple of crushes that never really panned out into anything and I casually dated a couple of guys, but nothing really worth noting here. However, the summer of 1991 was a whole different story. That summer began a real turning point in my life and there was 1 guy behind it all. His name was Eric and he broke my heart big time. I must preface this by saying that this story is a really hard one for me to tell, but this series of entries has become cathartic for me, so I'm not backing down from the task. Just know that it will be a multi-parter for sure and the first one won't be for a few days. I really need time to gather my thoughts. Ok, wow, after that build-up, I had better craft some Pulitzer winning material!

In the meantime, I have an update on Lee & Purple Paisley guy that I'll share with you tomorrow. So, stay tuned...

High School Heartache - Part 6

Purple Paisley Guy (continued)

Since he lived so far away, we never got to see each other. The letters continued over the next few years, but our communication became fewer and farther in between. He dated and so did I, but we always ended up talking at lulls in love. When I finally graduated high school, I took a road trip to his hometown while he was home for Christmas break from college. I'm not sure what expectations I had for this visit, but they clearly weren't in line with his. Upon seeing him, for only the 4th time since our original meeting, something felt different. I no longer had those romantic notions towards him. Possibly because I had just come through a really rough relationship earlier that year and possibly because he had changed also. I just knew things weren't the same. I returned home, dazed and confused and ready to leave him in the past. And then I got the shock of my life.

A couple of months later, I received a phone call out of the blue from Purple Paisley Guy. He went on and on about how much he missed me and loved me and couldn't imagine life without me. HUH?!?! And then, he proposed. (I'll wait while you pick your chin off the ground) He was ready to head to the jeweler to buy me a huge diamond ring and wanted to know what I thought. Hmmm, what did I think? Oh my, where to begin?

First of all, letter writing and mix tape making, does not constitute a proposal-worthy relationship in my book. Secondly, we had been in each others company only 4 times in the past 4 years and the last get-together, frankly, wasn't all that great. Was his brain not functioning? Was he so caught up in this harlequin romance novel that he couldn't see the forest for the trees? Apparently so. I politely declined his lovely offer and explained that I just thought we wanted different things in life. I think I actually heard him cry. I felt like crap. And so, that ended the chapter that was the Purple Paisley Guy. Or did it?

Several months later, I ended up meeting my (now hubby) and well, obviously we got married. The week before my wedding, I had this overwhelming urge to call Purple Paisley Guy and let him know of my impending nuptials. I don't know why, so don't even ask. It took some major tracking down, but I finally got him on the phone. I couldn't believe it. Surprisingly, he didn't slam the phone down upon hearing my voice on the other line. I think a small part of him hoped that I was crawling back to ask for forgiveness. Alas, I instead sprung the news of my wedding. I was met with silence. And then he informed me that I was the 2nd former "girlfriend" in a week to call him and tell him about wedding news. He was not amused.

Then, he sprung some news, that didn't exactly amuse me. He informed me that he had written a book and I was one of the main characters. He was kind enough to change my name, but I was clearly identifiable. Oh brother, this is just what I needed. Some jilted ex-boyfriend to paint a not so rosy picture of me, for all the literary world to stumble upon. We bid our farewells and never spoke again. And to this day, I still check Google and amazon to see if he has published anything under his name. So far, nothing.

I did discover, recently, that he is married and actually living not too far away from my little brother. Isn't the Internet a wonderful thing?

The summer of 1990 (between freshman and sophomore year) yielded a rather hilarious story that I'll revisit next. He was blond, a slacker and he rode a motorcycle...he was Tom.

{to be continued}

High School Heartache (formerly G of RP) - Part 5

Purple Paisley Guy (continued)

The knock on my bedroom door startled me because when I daydream, I almost become catatonic. I've got quite an overly-active imagination. I opened the door and it was mom. She had a package in hand that had me puzzled. Who on earth was sending me a package? It was him!!!

I ripped open the box and inside were 2 cassette tapes. (Remember, this is 1990. CD's were just coming onto the scene) They were mix tapes and they each had the most eclectic mix of songs that I've ever come across. And each song was so romantic in it's own way. Some had romantic words, some had romantic melodies and some just had it all. And the letter that accompanied these tapes was something out of Lord Byron's time. It was poetic and heartfelt and just made me miss him 100 times more than I was already. My broken heart was seaming back together. I had found a prince charming.

I popped the first tape into my Walkman and closed my eyes. Basia sang "Time & Tide" and I carefully listened to the words. Oh, this guy was good. I officially waved my white flag and declared my heart stolen. Each song had some sort of significance and he had clearly spent a LOT of time carefully choosing each tune. This was too good to be true.

Our letter writing love affair carried on for months, each letter more serious than the last. Finally, summer came and I had to do something to take my mind off all this long distance romance nonsense. I obtained my first official job working as program staff for my church's camp. This job entailed me moving away from home for 10 weeks and living in the woods in a cabin with 5 snotty girls, ticks, scorpions and a whole host of other fun characters. It actually was a lot of fun and I have some really great memories from that experience. I was especially excited when I received word from Purple Paisley Guy that he & his friend were going to be traveling through the area and wanted to make a stop to see me.

I attempted to give him directions to my humble abode in the boonies of East TN, but alas, my directionally challenged mind failed me again. After getting horribly lost, he & his friend finally made it and we were reunited again! It was like no time had passed, even though it had been over a year. We "reminisced" all the way back into town while his friend drove. It was great. I took him to my BFF's house, so we could enjoy some "parent free" time and so I could introduce him to my best girlfriend. She snapped a picture of us hugging in her bedroom. I still have that pic. We both look so serious in that shot. He was really a serious and intense kind of guy. He was very passionate about things and that passion just seeped out of his pores. I was a bit overwhelmed by it at times. I think that after this visit, a change began in the tide of our relationship.

{to be continued}

Ghosts of Relationships Past - Part 4

Purple Paisley Guy

My freshman year of high school had gotten off to a rocky start. Lee had been a total jerk and successfully jaded my perspective of the opposite sex. So, when in deep despair, what else do you do? Road Trip!

Throughout high school, I participated in all sorts of dramatic arts. Not just the kind in my personal life, but the kind you can actually put on a high school transcript with which to impress college admissions offices. One group in particular that I especially enjoyed was the forensics team. We would travel around to different speech competitions and show off our public speaking prowess. I competed in a couple of different categories, but original oratory was my favorite. Imagine my surprise when I made my way to my competition room and I saw someone, other than the category judges, who made my stomach swell with butterflies!

He sat on the floor at the end of the hallway and as our eyes met, time stopped. I don't know what captured my attention first. His wavy dark hair, his chiseled face or the beautiful purple paisley shirt that he wore. I couldn't take my eyes off of him! I snapped out of the haze just in time to realize that I was about to be late for my round and so I turned and prayed that he would be there when I was finished.

I totally screwed up my speech, but I didn't care. My mission now was to find. this. boy. I couldn't wait to find my friends who traveled with me and enlighten them about this vision that I saw in the hallway! Oh, where was he? He's not there! Was it all a dream? Was my adolescent angst playing a cruel trick on me? And then, I felt a tap on the shoulder.

I turned and there he stood. Knees don't fail me now! "Hi", he said in the softest, velvety voice. "Hi." Wow, how original of me. "Are you from around here?", he questioned. "No." Ok, Angie, you're going to have to do better than 1-word answers if you want to captivate him with your winning personality. "What's your name?", he asked with this Cheshire-type grin that just melted what was left of my heart. "Angela." Ok, did I really just say that? Yep, I just told him my name was Angela. Huh?

And so, this weekend romance, that steamed up pretty quickly (when we weren't each in competitions), was all started with a big fat lie. Ok, I really shouldn't say a lie, because yes, the name on my birth certificate does say Angela, but NO ONE (not even my parents) calls me Angela. He is, was and will be the ONLY guy that I've ever dated that called me the one name that I hate to be called. And I didn't care.

That weekend was full of lots of kisses and music. That was one thing that really tied us together. We both LOVED all genres of music and we talked a lot about it. When I had to leave to return home, we exchanged addresses and phone numbers and promised to stay in touch. We both shed tears and I couldn't believe that this guy who I had such a strong connection with, lived hours away. I was being punished. The dating gods were having a field day with this one!

A couple of weeks passed and despite my best efforts, I couldn't get the purple paisley guy out of my mind. I kept reliving the moment we met, over and over in my mind. And then, I was rescued from the brink of insanity by a knock at my bedroom door.

{to be continued}

Ghosts of Relationships Past - Part 3

Lee

Lee was kind of a quiet guy, but what he lacked in volume, he more than made up for in self-confidence. This guy had an ego the size of Texas. He & I met through a mutual friend and the sparks kind of flew almost immediately. He ended up being my first real boyfriend.

Frankly, I'm amazed that Lee stuck with me for as long as he did. My father, being of old-school Latin American dating ideals, INSISTED on chaperoning all of our dates. And by chaperoning, I mean sitting 3 rows behind us at the movies and other fun things like that. It's no wonder that I still prefer sitting on the back row of the theater to this day.

The all-girls school that I attended had a class-swapping program with the all-boys school (where Lee attended). What a god send! This afforded us ample opportunities to see each other (without a chaperon) and be wild teenagers on both campuses. That is until my sneakiness was foiled by a very over-protective father.

One late afternoon, my father showed up at the all-boys school to discover that I had been lying through my teeth exaggerating the truth as to what I was there for each day. I was grounded big time and banned from talking with Lee. I was devastated! And then my memory gets a little murky on this next part. I think the whole thing was so emotionally scarring that I've blocked a lot of it out.

Since Lee & I were pretty much incommunicado, we eventually drifted apart. The nail in the coffin came one afternoon when Lee came over to our campus for a class. He & I went into one of the drama classrooms (how fitting) to "talk". We sat on the floor and I listened to him spout out all these reasons as to why he didn't want to see me anymore. I was devastated and all I could think was that I didn't want to cry in front of him. So, in an attempt to make a really dramatic exit, I stood up and headed for the classroom door, when suddenly...CRASH.

Apparently, the way I had been sitting on the floor resulted in one of my legs falling asleep. However, I hadn't noticed this until I was on my feet ready to run out of the room. I took step one and then step two resulted in my knee buckling and my face hitting the ground. I bit it. Hard. As if I wasn't already upset about this jerk dumping me, I now had to face the embarrassment of picking myself up again and trying to make some sort of civilized getaway. And all that prick could do was laugh. I did manage to exit the room without any additional falling episodes and Lee & I parted ways for good.

I ran into him several years later, while we were both in college. He wasn't as cute as I had remembered, but that ego was still intact. He married some girl and became an attorney (I think). And his Texas-sized ego is now, ironically, living in Texas. Good riddance.

Just when I thought my freshman year of high school was going to be a complete romantic wasteland, along came my saviour...the purple paisley guy.

{to be continued}

Ghosts of Relationships Past - Part 2

Wow, I'm so thrilled that you guys are just as excited about reading this stuff as I am about writing it! So, where was I...

Oh yeah, a little fling named Lee. But wait, my BFF reminded me of a humongous & terribly embarrassing little crush that I had in elementary school that is worth noting. I'm going to backtrack for this installment, but we'll resume our regularly scheduled story-telling momentarily.

Brad

I spent most of my elementary career pining for one boy and we'll call him Brad. Brad was the cute & popular boy that all the girls thought was dreamy. With his light brown chili bowl haircut, his Izod shirts, and his converse all-stars, what was not to love? And the fact that he tormented me by ignoring my existence despite knowing of my deep and abiding affection towards him, did nothing to dissuade my efforts to make him notice me. It was crushing to an 11 year old ugly duckling.

Our elementary school had honors programs for 6th graders and Brad's father had graciously offered to mentor a small group of us who were interested in learning more about accounting and economics. His Dad was the CFO of a company. (Side note: see #21 on this list for a ha-ha moment) I begged and pleaded volunteered for this opportunity and was delighted at the prospect of spending several weeks at Brad's side. I could tell by the roll of his eyes and look of horror on his adorable face, that he was not equally delighted. I would not be deterred!

Anyway, at some point during that school year, I had a sleepover at my grandparents home. They lived a couple of streets over from Brad, so, what a great opportunity to incorporate him into my festivities! I had 3-4 girlfriends from school over and we talked and laughed and ordered pizza for dinner. I'm not exactly sure whose idea the next part was, but here's where the evening took a wrong turn. While waiting for the pizza to arrive, I of course, was bellowing about how cute Brad was and how I wished he would toddle down the street to join us for pizza and maybe some spin the bottle. Somehow, the idea came up of actually calling him and inviting him. Brilliant! Oh yeah, until he said no. Well, I wasn't taking "no" for an answer. I decided that if wouldn't come to us, then I was going to him. I put a couple of slices of pizza onto a paper plate, grabbed an ice cold can of Coke and off I marched to Brad's house. My girlfriends followed behind cheering me on, ready to watch the carnage unfold. Of course, my courage waned with each step closer to Brad's house. By the time I got to his house, I only had enough resolve to run up to the doorstep, drop the pizza & Coke on his doormat, ring the doorbell, and run like hell.

The following Monday at school was awful. Brad told everyone of my lame dinner delivery and I was a social outcast for a while. That's tough on a fragile ego. I continued to pine for him silently and upon "graduating" from elementary school, I lost track of him as we went to different schools. That is, until our senior year of high school.

Brad, in a lame but ironic twist, had a friend of his call my BFF to ask her to his senior prom. How sad. By this time, I had completely forgotten the tears wasted on this guy and was gleeful and delighted to see him shot down by my best girlfriend. Score 1 for my team!

Brad went on to graduate with an accounting degree and is now a CPA. He ended up marrying a girl who was a few years behind me in school. She's the administrator of a program that teaches abstinence programs in our locals schools. Apparently, I was just coming on too strong, I guess. Who knew?!

Ok, now that I've got my elementary crush out of the way, let's fast forward 3 years to some serious puppy love, called Lee.

{to be continued}

Ghosts of Relationships Past

Yesterday was quite a day. I FINALLY saw the Sex & The City movie last night and am happy to report that I loved it. It wasn't what I was expecting, but it will definitely be added to the permanent DVD collection. I also began getting wrapped up in this love story by Pioneer Woman that my despicable wonderful BFF told me about. After spending literally hours crying, laughing, and ignoring my kids reading through all 34 chapters, I am finally up to date and on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next installment. All this estrogen powered love-talk, got me reminiscing about relationships over the years. There have been a few. So, walk with me while we stroll down memory lane and revisit some of the most memorable characters. (Disclaimer: all names have been changed to protect the not so innocent)

Danny

The year was 1988 and I was waltzing the hallowed halls of my jr. high alma mater as a lonely 8th grader. I was having a hard time fitting in to my new surroundings. For some misguided reason, I thought that looking up an old elementary school classmate would pull me out of these tween doldrums. So, I pulled out a class list from my elementary school and decided what a brilliant idea it would be to call a former male classmate of mine to see what he was up to!

It had probably been 7 years since we had seen each other (in the 2nd grade) and I was so sure that he would have wonderful stories to share with me, since we had both done so much growing up after all those years. Right. I finally tracked him down and surprisingly, he remembered me. (What can I say, 6 years old was a good year for me)

We began this phone correspondence that happened nightly (after homework, of course). There were lots of giggles and dreams shared and of course, we made the inevitable plans to finally reunite in person. It's amazing what a pair of teenagers can accomplish in 2 weeks. Apparently, young Danny got caught up in all the talking and giggling and decided to take our phone friendship into uncharted territory. A few days prior to the scheduled reunion, I opened my locker to find a long box wrapped with a red ribbon. Attached was a card with my name on it. I had never seen anything like it and my heart immediately started racing. What could this possibly be? And who was it from?

Mortified that any of my adolescent classmates might witness this spectacle, I quickly removed the ribbon and opened the gold papered box, in the hopes that I could hide it's contents. I was stunned to reveal a dozen long-stemmed red roses. Oh the humanity. Who could possibly cast this embarrassing moment upon me? I slowly opened the small envelope and revealed the card. It was decorated on the right side with a poor watercolor rendition of a fern & lily of some sort. Across the top was printed in an old-timey font the words "Especially For You". And there, in black & white typewriter strikes, were the words I couldn't believe. "Just Because I Love You. Danny."

Was this guy for real? I mean, I don't even know that I would characterize what we had as a relationship at all. It was almost a friendship, but more of an acquaintance kind of thing. He loved me? Oh surely not. The phone conversation that night was so awkward. I was none too happy about being embarrassed with this special delivery at school and I relayed that sentiment in some pretty colorful vernacular. He professed his "love", this time in full stereo, and I was helpless to just sit back and watch this train wreck. I tried, in the nicest way possible, to point out that we hadn't even seen each other in many years and that this 2 week phone relationship couldn't possibly have cultivated feelings beyond 13 year old adolescent curiosity about an old friend. And so, I dashed young Danny's hopes of ever having a reunion and demonstrated just how ungrateful some girls are about receiving flowers. (Editors note to hubby: This in no way reflects on my current position about how much I love receiving flowers. So don't think for one second that this is your get out of jail free card.)

I never kept in touch with young Danny after that phone call and I guess a small part of me hopes that he found someone who would appreciate his zest for floral delivery on unprepared females.

I, on the other hand, moved onto my freshman year in high school and was bitten by a bug, and his name was Lee.

{to be continued}