Spring Blush
Junior High ended on a half-day in June.
We ninth-graders lounged around outside in the sunshine and went around getting our yearbooks signed. Looming ahead was a stretch of summer, and high school in the fall!
Gemini Dream by the Moody Blues, The Stroke by Billy Squier, Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield, Too Much Time On My Hands by Styx, and You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates were popular.
“Urgent” by Foreigner
I bought a 45 record of Foreigner’s Urgent, and played it hundreds of times in my room while dreaming of Mike.
That summer, Mom helped me sell my stereo, originally her old portable from the ‘50s. It had a turntable, AM radio and attached speaker.
She spotted me the difference to buy a newer one (from the ‘70s) at a local garage sale, using my allowance. This “new” stereo had TWO speakers, FM Radio and turntable, with a headset. Urgent sounded amazing on it!
All summer, Mike and I saw each other nearly every day. One time, he came with us to go to Kutztown, Pa. to see Crystal Cave and also their annual Fair. He went down the shore with us, and joined us for some other fun things.
After the South River fireworks, we indulged in a few of our own downstairs in our family room. Mom caught us with the lights out and to say she wasn’t pleased would be putting it mildly.
We’d make out on the sofa down in the rec room, and one time Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight was on. That song always brings me back to that scene when he murmured, “I just can’t hold you close enough.”
Being alone was a trick with my brother around. He was always trying to spy on us and catch us in a compromising position. Once, I saw him peeking through the vertical blinds downstairs, and I got up to snap them shut in annoyance.
I went with Mike on his daily paper route, collecting from the customers, often ducking into the woods on Prigmore Street for a quick rendezvous. I was mortified one afternoon when the guy who owned Sheldon Motors, on the other side of the woods, caught us and shouted, “None of that! Get outta there!” Mike thought it was hilarious. I was incredulous at his insensitivity toward my feelings of embarrassment.
My First ASTA Conference
That summer, Miss Morrow, my violin teacher, encouraged me to attend “ASTA” (American String Teachers’ Association). It was a week-long conference, held at Glassboro State College (now Rowan University) in August.
“Too Much Time On My Hands” by Styx
Styx – Too Much Time On My Hands
It meant being away from home, which I’d demonstrated that I could handle pretty well when I went to Camp Fairview in 6th grade. My mother thought it was a good idea— another step for me to take as a musician, and toward my independence.
I spent the first week of August down at ASTA, and missed Mike terribly. However, I took to the experience like a dolphin to water, and made fast acquaintance of my roommate, Andrea M, and the other students. The ages ranged from beginner (9 or so) through 12th grade, with high school graduates and older returning as counselors.
I bought a rainbow-page journal at the student store, and began what has continued over the years as “The ME Book,” writing about my fun experiences at ASTA and my feelings for Mike.
The conference was a nice mix of dorm life, various string ensembles, master classes, meals in the big dining hall, concerts and lots of free time as well.
“In The Dark” by Billy Squier
Friday night was to be the big performance in the auditorium for all of the orchestras (junior, intermediate and senior, the latter in which I performed).
The parents and families would attend the concert, after which the students went home. Gordon T (of junior high orchestra fame) was one of the directors in the program.
I was on fire toward the end of the week because I knew Mike would be coming to the concert with my family. It was electrifying to see him again that evening. I was dressed my best, and looking forward to performing with a top-notch group of my peers.
I played my heart out in the concert, which featured great, memorable pieces, after which followed an emotional mass exodus of families and students. One of my favorites was Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite for String Orchestra (particularly the last movement, Mattachins).
The rest of August brought an involuntary separation for us. Mike’s family was planning a three-week cross-country trip out to New Mexico, their home state, and I sent Mike off with hugs and kisses. I spent those three weeks listening to Urgent, writing in The ME Book, and other normal summer things like going on the tractor-trailer with Dad and the pool with Joan and Leslie.
I made meringue cookies and bought a 45 record of Alan Parsons Project’s Time as gifts in anticipation of Mike’s date of return, which finally arrived just before school started.
Since Mike lived so close, we would often meet late at night by my fence for a risqué nightcap if the weather allowed. Thank goodness my parents never glanced out their back bedroom window! I’d have had my head handed to me, with an even worse fate for him.
Around this time, Mom decided to get me a “teen line” for my room. In some sort of contest, she had won a telephone with a ringer that sounded like an electronic cricket (in a world of “bell ringers”, this was a novelty. Now, the bell is a novelty!).
So, the cool new phone took residence next to my bed, much to my brother’s consternation. I paid for the service out of my allowance (payment for my chores), and babysitting money.
Mike would call me during the night (I still recall the number, but won’t post it here. Tommy Tutone, anyone?). I didn’t mind the loss of sleep, and if Mom knew, she never did anything to stop it.
