Good Times On The Highway To Hell Part 7

Time has passed and the stories with my brother are becoming less and less, we aren’t children anymore, you can read about my antics instead.

My stepfather was Luthern and he demanded we go to Vacation Bible School. The only bible I owned was given to me by my mother when I was five years old. One at the end of class the teacher put a star in the back. I was so shocked, I don’t know what I did to deserve it but it felt so good the next day I drew my own start next to hers.

I was not musically inclined when it came to singing but I wanted to be in the Middle School plays so bad. The music teacher took pity on me and cast me among the three main dancers. The dress code was dainty white socks which my mother would not buy so I showed up in tube socks. She was kind and found a place in the back row so I could participate. I lost my desire after that.

In high school I carried my camera everywhere I went. One weekend the KKK was marching near we hung out. I went over and took a few photos. My friends were completely freaked out but I wasn’t their target.

Granny was such a rigid do-it-the-book type of personality. One day shortly after getting my license we went shopping and the parking to was very small. I am backing out a tap the car behind me, Granny was a cool cucumber. She said to get out and see if there’s any damage, if not get back in the car and drive home.

At the end of our block was a wooded area that had a creek. We would sneak down there and have the time of our lives. At the deeper end, the kids before us installed a thick rope so you could swing out to the deep end. One of the great features was that those before us carved out a slide out the side of the hill above the creek. It was dry and you had to learn when to lift your but because there was a tree stump.

I was not allowed to drive my car unless it was to school, work, or to take Granny shopping. My friend picked me up and had me drop her off at her boyfriend’s and she would get the car later. I was so nervous that Granny would wake up in the night and see her car which would put me in big trouble. Her car didn’t have power steering and it was a beast to drive.

The way that Rosanna and I became friends was because I was dating her ex-boyfriend. He made some comment trying to make me jealous and I took the bait. I stood outside her classroom and when she arrived I punched her in the eye knocking out her contact. She followed me after school to see if she could drive me home, sure, what discovered about my boyfriend was unbelievable. Needless to say, I broke up the same day.

I was married at 18 years old, and the wedding dress and the whole nine yards. It was August 1st in Texas which means it was sweltering hot. His father had given the Priest extra money to turn on the air conditioner earlier and take the temperature down. I guess that’s too much to ask in August, if you’re not a Catholic you may not appreciate that during the ceremony you spend a lot of time leaning in front of the altar and I still had my veil down. Suddenly I felt dizzy and thought I would fall over, sure enough, I was going down and my soon-to-be husband walked me over to the first row of seats. I was so dignified, I threw my veil away from my face and begged for water. The Priest comes over with a gold chalice full of water and I suddenly feel guilty, I thought only Prest and Pope could drink from them. We finished the ceremony and we had so many laughs after because the whole thing was recorded.

When I met my husband he had a 55-gallon saltwater fish tank. We eventually added some fish and I had my favorite fish, a Puffer Fish. One night I was messing around and decided to try to hand-feed Puffy, David kept saying don’t put your hand in the water or he will bite you. That’s exactly what happened, I freaked took my hand out of the tank, and threw him on the floor. By now he is distressed and puffed out to full potential. David got him in the net but he couldn’t come until have chilled, then he swam out. I didn’t try that one again.

Melinda