Reminiscing

Her name was Mary and I must have spoken about her in the past. It was a long time ago and I don't know what made me think of my first girlfriend. I was 16 and I walked her home from school and isn't that the way most young romances begin? She was a very personable young womn and we began a delightful relationship. I don't think she was as enamoured of me as was I with her and it wasn't really a case of true love. I guess you could characterize it as a strong friendship and we greatly enjoyed each others'company. That first day I went home with her, there were 8 other guys waiting for her on the front porch. That puts into perspective her popularity. I can remmber saying to the group of young men, "O.K. now we have a team. Lets play ball" (A reference to a baseball team for those from the heart of Texas) However, what I mainly wanted to tell you about was,not so much Mary, but her Grandfather.I met him too that first day. Grampa was a gruff old German still with a slight German accent and meeting him was rather a shock to my confidence. He first asked me "Are you a boy scout or a pup?" Thats a direct quote from 70 years ago and you think I may be losing my memory?? I replied stammering, "I'm a scout sir". Whereupon he said "Come here with me" and like a little boy I followed him into the foyer. There was a fairly large chair sitting there and it had two sturdy arms which Grampa took hold of with a strong grip. With that, he hoisted himself into the air and performed a handstand that in Olympic circles would have earned him at least a 9. Lowering himself to the floor and turning to me asked in that same gruff voice, "Can you do that?" My confidence was leaking out of me faster than a hole in a bag of sand and still stammering I replied "No sir" He muttered something under his breath and stormed away.I'm sure he felt about my generation what I sometimes feel about the generations that have followed me; they just don't make them like they used to. Well, that wasn't exactly a roaring success for me who was trying to make an impression on a young lady but Mary must have experienced that before because she was laughing as we walked into the living room. She and I spent the better part of the two years that followed until graduation together in 1940 at which point it was pretty much the end of our friendship because she went to their summer place and then off to Michigan State when fall came around whereas I had found a new friend by the name of Louise and the rest is history.