Читать книгу Precious Memories - Lynn Stannard - Страница 8

He felt scared and nervous. There was still plenty of time ahead. He had just turned sixteen in September, and his Senior Prom wouldn’t be until May. Although he had never had a date, he had come close a couple times. However, because of pressure from his best friend, who had just graduated, he knew he had to start early if he was going to ask a girl to the Senior Prom.

So he and his buddy made up a list of senior girls, and began to plot and plan about who he could ask. Some of them were already going steady. Some were too tall. Of course the cheerleaders were out of the question. The list was paring down. There was one girl, though, that he might consider. She was sort of new in the school.

Fall turned to winter. No more excuses. He was scared, but he knew he had to set up a plan that he couldn’t escape. How about a double date with Don and Betty? They suggested bowling, but he had never been bowling. How hard could it be? So he began to hang around this new girl’s locker a few times, just to say “Hi.” (First things first…)

Winter turned to spring. Easter was coming. He set up that double date with Don and Betty to go bowling the Monday evening after Easter. Now he just needed to ask her.

In a portion of the basement at the Middle School, a “Teen Canteen” had been set up for the local teenagers. Mr. Pass was behind the counter working the soda fountain. Popular rock music poured out from the speakers. Sounds of ping pong and pool echoed around the rooms. Black leather jackets, Elvis haircuts, jeans and loafers were the fashion of the day.

School had let out on Friday, and he went to the Canteen as usual to play pool with his friends. He ordered a chocolate milkshake. As was his habit, he began to drink it without a straw.

Meanwhile, she and her younger sister came into the Canteen to see if any girls she knew were there. In shock, his heart almost stopped when he looked up from his milkshake and saw her there. She’s here. This is it. Today’s the day. It’s now or never.

A short while later, panic gripped his stomach, when he saw her putting her car coat back on. She’s leaving. It’s now.

He took a deep breath and walked up behind her. Nervously, he pulled on her sleeve so she couldn’t slip her arm into it. She turned around.

He looked at her and said, “Don and Betty are going bowling Monday night.”

She waited.

“They want me to go with them.”

There. He did it.

She thought quickly, “Is he asking me for a date?” Silence. Mercy.

“I’ll have to check with my mother.” They were both relieved. He said he’d call her later.

After she left, he went into the men’s room and discovered his chocolate mustache. Oh no. How embarrassing.

The date was a beginning. The senior prom was very special. Over the next four years they fell in love.

And now, as she writes this story, their 50th wedding anniversary is just a few months away.

Dick and Lynn before the Prom