Thirty years ago, we finally celebrated our freedom of 12 years plus kindergarten by graduating from Marion High School. I remember the day
being quite nice and sunny. I also remembered the cap and gown that I
wore was from when my Aunt Cindy graduated three years earlier.
It's
funny how things begin at Black Hawk School in Waterloo and after stops
in Nevada, back to Waterloo, Webster City and Cedar Rapids that the
road would end in Marion going to Emerson and then to Longfellow.
Looking at old class pictures in Waterloo I can still remember my first
grade school GF, who was Donna Hess, kind of a husky girl who seemed to
chase me around the school yard on recess. I remember the teacher
paired us up on some kind of dance recital and had to hold her hand.
Odd to remember how sweaty and wet her hand was. Later there was Tanya
who became GF number 2 but before that went further we moved to Nevada
and there was Michelle. I had friends back then too but strange that i
cant remember their name whereas I remember the girls. Fact of the
matter was that I did see Donna at Crossroads in 1980 when Marion won
the 3A game, she looked lesbian with a short haircut and wearing
overalls. Maybe she wasn't but then again.
We got used to the
fact of moving so much that things were kept in boxes half the time. We
were only in Nevada for about eight months before moving back to
Waterloo for a year and then to Webster City. Out of all the places we
used to live at, i have yet to return to WC. Been to Nevada a couple
times, Waterloo at least once a year and Cedar Rapids while driving down
Mount Vernon Road, can still see the house we used to live in. And
then the road ended at Marion for the last of the school years.
As
I get older I begin to lose memory of some of the things that I used to
do. At Emerson I developed crushes on some chick named Lila Somebody
and I think Janeen Machen was at Emerson. Lila was your typical stuck
up spoiled little queen, whereas Janeen was more of a tomboy and at
least you can talk to her. What the fuck I saw in Lila was a weak
moment I guess. Once we moved over to Longfellow, the best three years
of my school life began, and me and my friends would terrorize the
teachers and develop girlfriend crushes and walked them home. Hard to
believe that Cheryl Barker was the girl of choice. Was best friends
with Russ and Jeff till me and Jeff had a following out over Cheryl.
Grade school competition but neither one of us ended up with her
anyway. Jeff found somebody much better and we did eventually mend
fences and now have become friends again. But throughout all that time
Russ and myself were the sidekicks that played basketball, and
football and I did play BB with Cheryl too. She was only 4 foot 5 but
she seem to run circles around me and won most of the games that we did
play.
I don't remember much of Junior High. Not that I really
wanted to, I think I spent most time watching the trains go by town back
when the Milwaukee Road/Union Pacific went through Marion. The trains
were annoying when they stopped in the middle of town. We'd be late by a
few minutes but I think I planned it just right. By then Cheryl and I
were going our separate ways, she became a overachieving BB star player
while I quit football simply of the fact I didn't like to practice doing
100 pushups. I guess that paved the way of me not being all that
popular from here on out.
My freshman year at MHS sucked. Typical
hazing and ended up being bullied by some upper class-men. Seemed like
everyday I was fighting with one of them or two. G.K was a total
douchebag. He drove a old rustbucket Mercury and if he wasn't punching
me in the hallway, the fuck was throwing Tomatos at me going home one
day. I regret the fact that I didn't fight back at this guy. Hell, the
cocksucker worked at Kroeske's when I looking through the dollar
albums. Should have reported him as harassing me and got him fired.
But he was in love with one of our neighbor's daughters and I guess she
dumped him in the worst of ways so karma does have a way of getting
revenge for you. But he suffered from small penis syndrome. I'm sure 30 years later GK has forgotten me and
everything and I think he still lives in town. Thank our lucky stars we haven't ran into each other. The other annoyance
that I had to deal with in high school passed away a few years ago.
Being
a sophomore wasn't much better. I met a girl up in Michigan to save
myself for her after graduation so we can be married and live a happy
life (such fairy tales). But I ended meeting two girls who would test
my patience and perhaps made me what I am today. And why I'm still
single. Anne Luzum was this smart mouth sister of Steve Luzum and she
had her best friend in American Studies that I forgot to take as a
freshman and unfortunately would pay for that mistake. In terms of theory,
Janice Berns remains either the one that got away or the female version
of GK. Janice somehow in the last three years became a major part of my
life the wrong way. She was a honor student, cheerleader and was
actually very skinny but she had one of those Farrah Dos and the
prettiest of eyes. In terms of theory she should have been the steady
for me but since i was trying to save myself for the Michigan girl, I
chose the wrong girl. I can tell you this, that Janice did like me,
perhaps even love me, she said that once after getting into a fight with
her at the dance the other night since I didn't ask her to dance
properly. Looking back thirty years later I realize that Janice wasn't
this monster annoyance but rather a freshman girl who seen something in
somebody that lived across the tracks and didn't do sports and was a
D/F student. The biggest regret I did was never walking her home after
school. Instead I chose Sue Raue and look where it got me today. But when I think about it anymore, Janice was just a waste of time too. Wish we would have never met.
I
didn't date all that much in HS. I walked Lisa Baumbarger home a couple
times and the only girl that I did date was Penny. Penny was
your big girl, she wasn't a cheerleader nor into sports but rather a
quiet girl with a funny laugh. If Janice was the imagination GF, Penny
was the more real GF that I did things with and we did managed to walk
the halls and held hands sometimes. But alas, I broke her heart a
couple times and lived to regret that. I guess history will show that
Penny was my HS GF, for the fact that on homecoming on my senior
year,while the bastards at Applegates made me work late into the night,
Penny sacifirced her time waiting for me to get off work, covering in
pizza grease and we spent most of the evening at my other best friend's
Steve's apartment. Then I stood her up the next day and broke her
heart again. I could be a real prick back then. As they say Karma does
get you back and it did. She broke my heart in 1989. Sometimes you
can't make being wrong right again. Another reunion in 93 proved just
as bad. Took us about 14 more years to get over that. I think we'll on
civil terms now but it took forever to get there. Penny knew me better than I knew myself, she knew we were not going to work as a couple. God bless her for that.
My Junior Year
sucked as well. Tried out for Basketball and made it to the march
intermurials or what ever they call them. Didn't have to do jumping
jacks. I played a bit, didn't do a lot, terrible free throw shooter.
Just like little league, was going to be a star till my grandpa died and
lost a whole week of practice and never did get a fucking hit
whatsoever in my only year of playing little league. I guess I was to
ask Janice to the Homecoming in my junior year but didn't and ever since
then if looks could kill she shoot those killer eyes at me, only to
bring me up from the dead only to shoot the look again. I really
thought about transferring to Linn Mar just to get away from her. Got
stuck with the worse teacher ever Bangs Bejecklia they called here.
Ended up taking a class over with a attempt to be class president.
Which everybody laughed, thankful that I wasted an hour with my rhetoric
and then voted for somebody else in the end. I don't think I got much
votes.
Senior year, started out shit, 7 courses and a shit job
dish washing at Applegates. Janice was a cook and she loved throwing
those dirty dishes on the counter. I remember an old classmate Cindy hired as a dishwasher. She was cute too but we never had much
interests once she moved away when she was living in CR when I was going
to third grade there. Suffered a nervous breakdown around
Thanksgiving, recovered, got fired at Applegates for making up a BIG R
Special which was my version of a Long Island Tea. And then got hired
at Derby and did some social work at a daycare center. Me working with
kids? Well it was true.
When we finally graduated it become a
relief that after 13 years in the school system that it was over and
then the usual happened. Some went into the service, some went to the U
of I or Iowa State, most went to Kirkwood and myself I took a year off
and worked at Derby till I moved over to Union 76 for three more years
of hell of working with my dad and the Hatch brothers. Actually the
Hatch boys weren't that bad although I did get into a couple nasty
fights with them.
I go to the reunions to meet up with the
friends that I have forgotten. Cheryl seldom ever talks to me anymore,
I wasn't a jock I was into rock and roll and her family didn't like me
much anyway. Most have children, some are married, some are married a
few times and a couple are grandmas and grandpas. Nothing really
changes in life, we set out to make changes but in the end we only
change ourselves to be just like our parents. I don't have to worry to
see any of my ex GFs there, they were a year behind me anyway. I doubt
if I will ever see Janice again but on occasion I'll run into Penny and
exchanges Hi and how are you. As for Lisa Bambarger? She's only went
to one reunion and she never did like me all that much after I quit
walking her home. (When you piss somebody off, they seem to hold that forever, such in the case of Ms Baumbarger)
We older, we're grayer and wider and even
though I don't agree with some of the outcome of this life, can't
complain too much bout the life that I live but it's hard to believe
that it has been 30 years ago.
Since that sunny day out on the
Thomas Park Football Field. And me trying to keep my hat on top of my
head since a good wind would keep blowing it off. Back then, we were
ready to take on the world. School's out forever, come, let's leave.
A long time forgotten....but I still remember (some of it anyway)
