a military academy. As usually, I set my goal on the best looking and most outstanding cadets. I dated several of them, then one day I became aware of a tall good looking cadet with brown hair, brown eyes and a devilish smile. This was Ron from Houston. He was a few days older than me but a year behind me in school so naturally I had been dating and looking for cadets who were upperclassmen.
The meeting place for high school girls and cadets was the corner drug store’s soda fountain on Wednesday afternoons and weekends. The tables and stools were always filled with cadets and girls flirting with each other. There was laughter and a joyful atmosphere. I did not like any part of the local high school; the catty clicks of girls or the town in general, except the excitement of the military school’s cadets. Some may have been from troubled homes but many of them were outstanding and had far more class than the local boys. Even though I was born to my lower middle class family with no expressions of style and elegance, the desire for class ran through my veins. Even with limited income, my parents were both leaders in the community and were good “church-going Texas folks.”
As I began to date Ron I was still dating other cadets. Gradually, in my teen level of consciousness “fell in love.” My diary was filled with how I was falling in love with him. The “in” word then was “bong” for anything you really liked. The diary was filled with “bong, bong, bong” – sounds so silly now. I thought I would die when the time came for him to leave and return home for the summer.
By mid summer my friend’s mother offered to drive us to Houston since we both had beaus there. I rarely traveled so this was an exciting trip to plan. I was guest in Ron’s Mother’s home. We only had the weekend but what a wonderful weekend it was. We went to the beach in Galveston; saw the sights of Houston, including a nightclub. Underage, how we got in has faded from my memory. Otherwise, our romance continued through letter writing and he never liked to write. Each letter was so precious to me that through the passing years I kept them tied in a blue ribbon. In the fall he returned and we continued dating. I was far too fickle to date exclusively. Ron loved music and played in the band. We were both a bit shy. When we had the opportunity to double date with someone with a car (that meant “necking”) we took advantage of it even though cars were off limits for the cadets.
By Christmas, his mother decided to take him out of the Academy at mid term to attend public school in Houston. I cried and cried when we said goodbye at the train station in Dallas. I knew I would never love anyone else and my heart would surely break. Ron was my Price Charming, my Knight in silver armor, how could I ever love again. Reading was not my favorite thing to do but I did read every fairytale book, even into teens. On Saturday mornings I would listen to a radio show “Let’s Pretend” fairytales, sponsored by Cream of Wheat – I can still sing their jingle “Cream of Wheat is so good to eat, yes, we have it every day, it makes us sing and it makes us strong, it makes us shout Hooray – It’s good for growing children and grownups, too, to eat, for all the family’s breakfast, you can’t beat Cream of Wheat.” – Always, I’ve had a memory problem but those words are implanted in my brain! As I look back over my life of love and romance, I always lived in a fairytale dream.
With Ron’s infrequent letter writing and my senior year of high school, the romance seemed to dwindle away for him, not for me. My heart still torched for him. He did come up for my Senior Prom. I was so proud of my handsome Prince. By the fall, I was a freshman in college and quite popular. This was also a military college with boys outnumbering girls five to one. Still, in my heart, I carried my fantasy romance for my Prince Charming until, in a telephone conversation; he told me he was dating someone else and the distance made it impossible for us to continue. I was broken hearted again. If I had made a different decision to stay in there and fight for my love, my life might have been totally different, alas, fate has a plan and we must follow it, even if we have no idea what it is.
In my second year of college, I began dating a football player who was in one of my art classes. He pursued me relentlessly. Every where I was, he was there and a bit of pest. He was a nice guy with a car. Few guys had cars so this was a reason to date him. It began with him offering his car to me to drive to a football game and take my friends. Before long, he offered his football jacket for me to wear. Wearing a guy’s football jacket was a really big deal at the time. That seemed to discourage others from dating me. I hadn’t intended to “go steady” with him – it seemed to be taken for granted. Months passed; there was no one else to date. The school year ended. My parents couldn’t afford for me to continue in college so I got a job and shared an apartment with two friends. Dating Nathan was just a habit. We kissed, even though I was not fond of kissing him. We got into some “necking” or “petting” and he got carried away. Fully clothed including a winter coat, he got overly excited and six weeks later I found I was pregnant.
In that era, abortions were illegal and unthinkable. He investigated the possibility and I was livid at the suggestion, thinking it meant sure death for me. I don’t wish to continue down that avenue of my life’s adventures, as I want to continue with my connection with Ron.
Somehow Ron and I reconnected again when I lived in Hollywood. It may have been about fifteen years later. By then he was married with four kids in school and I was ensconced in my film and TV career, feeling destined to marry a famous star, producer, director or writer. I was not interested in any sort of romance with a “married man” or a boy “from back home.”
By the late 1990s, I had been deeply involved in the Internet dating for several years. I probably met and dated over 100 men via the Internet. I assumed some where in the world there WAS a right man for me. I sometimes wondered what had happened in Ron’s life. By now, all his kids were grown. Was he still alive? Still married? What kind of life had he led? With the unlimited research offered by the Internet, I searched for his name and address any number of times but never found it until one day, at the beginning of 2001, I found his name and address - still in Houston. I did not want to create a problem for him if he was married. While living in Palm Springs, I wrote a friendly, very long letter telling him about my life and asking about his life and family, not knowing if he would ever read it.
(Written February 18, 2001)
Dear Ron –
I am assuming that you have not totally forgotten TMC and me. I don’t know if it is “old age” that brings back memories of our “first love” or why you have been on my mind for the past couple of years, wondering what has happened to you and your family. As I recall you had four children so you must be a grandpa, too.
Through old High School (Ft. Worth) friends, I was informed that they were having a High School Reunion – so many years since I graduated from High School and College – hard to believe! Where did my life go! I have moved around so much, little remains of old mementoes; however I still had an old photo album. While removing photos of high school and college fun days to copy and send to the Reunion, I also got hung up on photos of you and the memories therein. The photos were of a Senior dance, a few photos you send from Houston and that very emotional day for me when Paul A. took us to the train station in Dallas for your return trip to Houston when your mother pulled you out of TMC. I don’t recall if it was money or because she didn’t like our romance.
Is she still living? Both my parents have been dead for many years. I don’t know if you know a thing about me
