Vacation's End and Junior Year

When my Aunt Allene finally got some time off from her job and was ready to go to Mississippi to visit her relatives, her friend, Mr. Allred, planned to drive us there in his car. My time in Texas was over, and this was my ride back home to Mississippi. Dave had ended his summer job and would be traveling with us. It was late in the evening when our eight-hour trip began. Dave and I sat in the back of the sedan with the two adults on the front seat. Most seats in sedans weren’t divided.

As a side note about Mr. Allred, he and my aunt dated for years, but he was a married man. They had always known their relationship would never go anywhere. His wife had been in a mental asylum for a long time. She didn’t even recognize him when he visited. Mental hospitals weren’t nearly as advanced as they are today. The patients had a place to stay with little hope of ever leaving. According to the state law, mental illness wasn't grounds for divorce.

As the darkness settled in, Dave and I moved closer together on the seat. Aunt Allene kept glancing in the mirror and cautioning us to move apart. Apparently, she was wise as to our attraction to each other. We had stopped talking and thinking it was dark enough that we wouldn’t be seen, we were pretending to fall asleep against each other. When she would say something about us being so close, we would act as though we had been asleep and would apologize and move apart, but soon we would be back together again. I’m sure she was relieved when the trip ended.

Mom and Dad were excited to see me back home, and I couldn’t seem to stop talking about how wonderful Texas was. If they had realized I would be away six weeks instead of two, I’m pretty sure I would have never gotten away. I think they were surprised to find I’d survived without them.

Aunt Allene spent most of her visit at her brother's house. He was my Uncle Harry. His wife was Mother's sister, Christine, making me related as well. Once we were back in Newton, the adults seemed to be working to keep Dave and I apart. Aunt Allene insisted Dave stay with her, so I didn't see him a lot.

There was one incident which occurred when I was spending the day in the country with them. Another neighborhood kid named Lyndon was with us. We’d all climbed up into the loft of Uncle Harry’s barn. For some reason, Dave and I decided to see if we could embarrass Lyndon by allowing him to watch us kissing. It worked because his skin flushed a deep red and he turned his head.

However, although he was a couple of years behind me in school, later, he decided to try to embarrass me by informing everyone I knew he had witnessed me kissing a guy. Actually, I made him believe it bothered me, but I didn’t mind others knowing I wasn’t as immature as they thought. Back then I looked a lot younger than I was.

After a couple of weeks, everyone returned to Texas, officially ending our summer romance. The following summer when they visited again, Dave and I had returned to being cousins who enjoyed each other’s company. As far as romance, we had moved on. We'd both gotten lectures on cousins not being suited as proper mates.

I began my junior year when the school term started in August. For the first time, our school planned to produce a year book. This one would be for 1953/1954, and I was a staff artist. We had a contest to decide a name for the yearly annual and the winning name was Echoes. Our sponsor had me spending time in the auditorium sketching the Shakespearian wood carvings on the framing around the stage. It would be used on the title page.

My friend and cousin, Joy, had gotten her driver’s license when she turned 15. Since her dad owned a Mercury dealership, he was allowing her to drive around in a sporty convertible. She had met a guy from Newton and developed an instant crush on him. He probably didn’t remember ever seeing her, but I knew where Tommy lived. She started driving to Newton regularly. She would pick me up, and we would go and circle his house many times, hoping to see him.

I couldn’t imagine doing something like that, but I didn’t mind cruising around with her. She became a stalker, and I rode shotgun. Joy was pretty and people told her she looked like Grace Kelly. She wore her blonde hair like Grace with that turned under ’Breck Girl’ look, with not a hair out of place. She was interested in finding a boy friend, but she wouldn’t officially start dating for another year. Tommy didn’t notice her until several years later, but by that time, Joy had moved on. It isn’t always possible to get the timing, and the chemistry lined up.

I was driving Dad’s car on the country roads and occasionally into town, but I wasn’t interested in getting a license. For most of the year I kept busy with school work and extra activities. I was trying to get the less interesting subjects out of the way, so I could have more fun during 00my senior year. Near Christmas, I was asked again to paint outdoor Christmas displays. It was always good to have a little extra money during the holidays.

One of my favorite activities during the year was the junior play. My rival, Jo Ann and I both wanted parts which contained the most lines. We each counted the lines in the script before trying out for the parts. We chose character parts to show off our acting ability. I had two more lines to learn than her. My role involved a wardrobe change and a fiery red wig. The script called for a kiss from my male counterpart. For once, I felt I could handle such a part without it feeling awkward.

Ironically, the male part was assigned to the same guy I had declared to be my boyfriend in first grade. We were both traumatized when the kids teased us. James had spent the last ten years, too shy to even look at a girl. He didn’t want to try out for a part, but we were short on males and the teacher recruited him anyway. I’m pretty sure he agonized more over that kiss than I did. If anyone remembers back to when we were both four, life was less scary then. We’d even walked toward an outdoor toilet together holding hands, until someone hurried out to halt our progress.

After Christmas, the new year was 1954. Eisenhower was president and Nixon was vice president. Government hearings were being held with generals, congressmen, and Hollywood stars. They were all being accused of having Communist ties. Our country seemed in a mess in those days, but compared to the present day, it seems things ran smoother.

The best picture of the year and biggest Academy Award winner in many categories was “From Here to Eternity”. Some of the stars were Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed and Frank Sinatra. It was the year Marilyn Monroe married Joe DiMaggio, and also the year Elvis Prestley put out his first single on Sun Records in Memphis. The name of the song was “Well, that’s alright.”

This was the year the US Air Force Academy was built in Colorado, and the first nuclear submarine, the USS Nautilus, was put into operation.

The ending of this year seemed a long way off in that January when I was 16, but it was destined to be a significant year for me. It would mark the beginning of a major turning point which would affect the rest of my life.