Highschool Sweethearts 4ever Cathy Chats

Good-morning, kittens & dawgs! I like preparing posts in advanced. While looking for a cover artists to use in Thursday’s BoTB, I came across the Atomic Kitten (doncha love their name?) but this isn’t my first time. I found them a couple of years ago but I didn’t use them then or since but this morning, I’m changing that by sharing their YouTube playlist below. 😉

Today’s Cathy Chats’ prompt is Share anything that has to do with love  – story, poem, artwork, song, photo, whatever!

DH and I knew each other most of our lives. You can’t help but not know most people when you live in a rural community. I think I shared bits over the years how DH and I became a couple but I’m going to tell the story again.  It was the fall of 1976. I was a freshman in high school. In my school district the 9th graders did not get to migrate to Iaeger High School until our sophomore year. Anywho, as I was saying, it was fall, a beautiful fall day at that rich blue skies and warm autumn sun kissing my skin. I sat outside on the sidewalk like I did every day after school to wait for my bus chatting with my girlfriends. The buses filed in busily to whisk kids off from my junior high with each new bus hauling high schoolers (grades 10-12) arrived and on this day like so many others before, a green Nova sat waiting for one high schooler to dismount and board the car to ride home with his mother who taught at my junior high. Being the friendly personality I am on this particular day, I waved and yelled out a hello to Robin (aka DH). He shot back a “Hello Doll!” before getting into the driver’s seat. I giggled, blushingly by his greeting. I never had anyone call me “Doll”. That boy deserved some major points with that, don’t you think? Anyhow,  I went back to chatting with my friends while the warmth in my cheeks slowly diminished and forgot about the incident by the time I got home. Being the good child that I was pat myself on the back I went straight to my room to get my homework done. I had barely gotten into my studies when I got a call. It was Robin. He asked if I would like to go bowling Friday night. Again, I blushed and told him I’d have to ask my parents. I was only 14. I told him I’d let him know something tomorrow. After talking with my parents, they agreed I could go but that’s only because they knew Robin’s parents. One’s good standing in the community really meant a lot where I grew up. Excited that my folks gave permission I phoned him the following day with the good news. Needless to say the week went by like a snail.

Friday finally came. I was nervous. What would we talk about? How do you bowl? Would he like me? He picked me up like a gentleman and opened the car door for me. He was driving his mother’s green Nova.  Do you remember bench seats in the front? Well…the car had a bench seat. I sat beside the window.  He got in, buckled up, and asked that I buckle up, too.  My family wasn’t big into wearing seat belts. I wasn’t even sure how to work it so he made sure my belt was properly fastened. The contraption felt strange.  Living in rural West Virginia meant to do anything remotely fun meant driving at least 45 minutes. We went to Welch. I can’t recall our conversation on the way to the bowling alley. I worried his quiet nature would be a problem compared to the chatter box that I was but I soon found talking to him was easy. I had never been bowling, so that was a fun first experience. I felt awkward and I stunk at it but I remember picking up a spare. Jubilantly, I flung my arms around his neck with my accomplishment. Could that have been the first spark of love? I dunno but it was exciting. 🙂

On our way home, sitting next to the window,  I felt more light-hearted and at ease. A few miles away from the bowling lane, DH invited me to sit closer to him and I agreed. We stopped momentarily for me to slide over and buckle up next to him before continuing.  The ride home went quicker than I wanted. I was enjoying talking to him. The evening got away from me too quickly and there we were standing on the front steps of my home talking just a little more as an uneasy feeling between us rose and I wondered, would he kiss me? We said our goodbyes and just like that he kissed me quickly, a fast peck on the lips. Disappointed and slightly embarrassed, we said goodbye. I went into the house. I guess he didn’t like me after all, I thought.

The next day, Debbie and I had a date to buy majorette boots.  Her mom drove us to Richlands, Virginia at which time she grilled me on my date.  I told her all about the good time I had and relayed my fears that I thought DH didn’t like me.  I got home later that day. My parents weren’t home. They went to church and locked the front door. Luckily, the dining room window was left unlocked. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for me to climb through windows as a kid to get into the house, just my house. I’m not a Cathy Burglar. 🙂 I’m not sure how I knew to do this unless mom told me before hand.  Anyhow, I recall the house being lonely, dark, and cold. I flipped all the lights on and stirred the coals in the furnace to get some heat going.  Feeling lonely, I wanted someone to talk to and thought about calling DH. I felt apprehensive about calling as I didn’t want to seem forward.  I turned the pages in the phone book hoping his dad’s name would jump out at me cause I didn’t know it when the phone rang. It was him! We spent the next two or three hours on the phone getting to know each other.  It was then I knew he was the boy I wanted to marry and an answer to my prayers. The following Wednesday, he picked me up for mid-week Church service and he asked me to go steady. The rest is history as they say with nearly 42 years of togetherness behind us.

Last October, I shared some of the classic “Love is…” comics which inspired me to create an original artwork done in a similar style and the sentiments ‘best girl’ is what DH calls me.  I love being his best girl!

You may want to check out the authority, visit Love is Comics!

Join my linky party open for this week’s prompt or random posts. I’m flexible! 😉 The only thing I ask is that you share the tweet above.

Do you have plans for Valentine’s Day? Our plans are generally kept low-key. I sketched DH a Valentine’s Day card design and I plan to make heart-shaped chocolate dipped shortbread cookies for my Valentine.  You may recall I made some for the holidays. The recipe is here if you’d like to make some for your sweetie.  DH really liked them a lot and asked if I’d make them for him.  I’ll share these things with ya next week. 😉  Eugenia posted an interesting word for the day, Kerfuffle along with some rhyming words which I lifted to try my poetic prowls.

OH, THE FUSS

©2018 Cathy Kennedy

Feeling puzzled
My feet scuffle
Why is there a struggle
To buy a single truffle
Tomorrow this kerfuffle
Will only be a brain muffle
Until…next Valentine’s Day

Do you have a topic you’d like to see on Cathy Chats? If so, drop it in comments for consideration. I’m linking up taking a HOT coffee break with Stacy Uncorked and Eugenia @BrewNSpew this morning and you’re invited to come with and let me remind you to visit again tomorrow for not-so Wordless Wednesday.

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