relationships – Page 65 – FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER!

Mr. No Class

October 10, 2020October 9, 2020 Posted in barbecue, bathroom, boyfriend, California, dating, honesty, humor, mom, relationships, shampoo, sister, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) They met online through a singles website (not the swiping one). Tom lived and worked in Napa. Carin lived less than an hour away in the San Francisco East Bay on a horse ranchette with her seven horses. She ran a small upscale hair salon. After much texting and talking, they got together for… Continue reading Mr. No Class

Moon Over Lafayette

October 4, 2020October 2, 2020 Posted in dating, firsts, relationships, restaurant, worstsLeave a comment

(re-run) Trudy worked at an engineering firm. Joe was the visiting copy machine repair man, or as her office mates called him, the Xerox guy. One day Trudy had to make copies. Joe was at the machine, repairing away. “Oh,” she said. “No copies for me!” “Hey there,” Joe said. “We should catch dinner sometime.”… Continue reading Moon Over Lafayette

A Ghost Story

October 1, 2020September 30, 2020 Posted in California, ghosts, humor, memoir, Monterey Bay, relationships, spirits, energyLeave a comment

(re-run) This is not a Halloween story. No words written in blood on the hallway walls, no moaning spirits or flickering lights, or candles blowing themselves out. Just a feeling of not being alone. Ghosts, if you will, leftover energy from those who came before us. As a child I was called the sensitive one.… Continue reading A Ghost Story

Hold the Crunch

September 27, 2020September 27, 2020 Posted in best, California, college, dating, food cravings, holidays, house party, humor, marriage proposal, Pennsylvania, phone call, relationships, singingLeave a comment

(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in 100 degree… Continue reading Hold the Crunch

Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard

September 26, 2020May 22, 2026 Posted in blind date, college, dating, firsts, humor, Iowa, memoir, Midwestern, relationships, restaurant, Rocky Mountains, worstsLeave a comment

(re-run) The college mixer was hosted by the men in Lorch House in Friley Hall, in the heart of the Iowa State campus. Tappan House, the top two floors of my dorm, Barton Hall, was invited. Yes, I am old. Yes, dorm floors are co-ed now. This was in the days of the dinosaurs. The… Continue reading Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard

Spin the Bottle

September 25, 2020September 24, 2020 Posted in firsts, Halloween, puppy love, relationships, worsts2 Comments

(re-run) Andy and Tony were thirteen. Shari and Candace were twelve. The four of them played together all the time. Shari was always at Andy’s bedroom window or backdoor, waiting for the next adventure. The foursome had played touch football and were tired of that game. Someone had heard of Spin the Bottle. Shari wanted… Continue reading Spin the Bottle

Parking Lot Pick-up

September 24, 2020September 23, 2020 Posted in Berkeley, California, cars, Catholic, college, dancing, dating, fraternity, friends, humor, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) Edith and her friend, Laura, were bored. It was Saturday night, and they’d been at their all-girls’ school, Holy Names, for a whole week. It was time to find some guys, to find a party. They pulled into Berkeley and headed for Fraternity Row. Laura spotted someone she had dated before and rolled down… Continue reading Parking Lot Pick-up

Door Number One or Door Number Two?

September 21, 2020September 20, 2020 Posted in best, California, children, cocktail waitress, Colorado, dad, dating, firsts, holidays, humor, Iowa, marriage proposal, memoir, Minnesota, relationships, Sweden, travel, vacationLeave a comment

(re-run)\ It was all because of a blizzard. Well, sort of. I wanted to go to Minnesota to see the boyfriend I’d broken up with five months before while we were in Europe. We had bought Eurail passes and had made our way across the continent, sleeping on trains, in tents, and youth hostels, even… Continue reading Door Number One or Door Number Two?

Afternoon Delight

September 19, 2020 Posted in biking, children, crush, flirting, humor, junior high school, lust, middle school, neighbors, newspaper boy, paper boy, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) If you were in eighth grade and you had a weekly afternoon paper route delivering the Detroit News in Saginaw, Michigan, and you rode your red Schwinn with the basket to do your route and then rode it again on collection day, what would your fantasy be? If you were Chet, it would be… Continue reading Afternoon Delight

The Middle Child

September 19, 2020September 19, 2020 Posted in attitude, birth order, childhood, dogs, expectations, flashback, gender, middle child, relationshipsLeave a comment

(te-run) I’m not really the middle middle child. I am the second of five. But I am the middle daughter, three girls before two brothers. Looking back over the years, I remember how it felt to not be the oldest, not the youngest, not the first daughter, not the youngest daughter, not the first son… Continue reading The Middle Child