Conquering Obstacles (Part 35--The Beaus)

With Lyle's revelation regarding my "stuck up" attitude, I decided to quit the search for a "true" friend and just take things as they came. My college classes were going well, and I seemed to have more friends than ever before. Most didn't ask me personal questions which was a huge relief. I must admit, though, I wasn't always the best judge of character.

I had a crush on one guy in particular, and it took him quite awhile to ask me out to a movie. We saw "Easy Rider," and afterward I got a peck on the cheek. I thought that was rather odd, but then again, we were just friends. We stayed friends even after I transferred to Eastern Washington State University. He wrote often, but in his last letter to me, he indicated he was "gay" and would be moving to Tempe, AZ. That explained the peck on the cheek. I must have been one naive girl not to have known.

Steve was a few years older than I was, and obviously head over heels for me because he gave me a diamond ring after dating for only two weeks. When my parents met him, I could feel that they didn't particularly like him. They always seemed to know what was right for me; so one day while I was shopping in downtown Billings, it occurred to me that I didn't particularly like him either. I took off the ring and threw it into a snowbank. When I looked back on that moment, I wished that I had taken it to the pawn shop. I was then and still am much too impulsive for my own good.

I was living and working in Yellowstone National Park during my summers and had what I called "fun" boyfriends because we all knew that when the end of the season came, so did the relationships. They positively widened my horizons, though, because they were from all over the country--Huntington Beach, CA, Huntsville, AL, New York City, etc. They gave me the urge to travel which I have never lost. (as I write this blog from a hotel room.)

When I tranferred to EWSU, I didn't realize that the student body ratio was ten males for every female. I remember sitting in an English Communications class that consisted of 34 males and 1 female....that would be ME! Most girls would have drooled to be in a class like that one, but I was feeling outrageously uncomfortable. The male teacher would tell jokes and talk to the fellas in class as though I weren't there. After catching my look, he'd say, "Oh, we have a lady in the room. I'm sorry."

So was I! I had been in class for two weeks and no one had yet talked to me. I was going to give these fellas one more class period to acknowledge me (even a HI would have been acceptable); and if they didn't, I was dropping the class.

To my surprise, the scruffy looking, dishwater blonde sitting next to me actually spoke to me... again and again and again...until the teacher had to ask him to refrain from talking. After class he asked me to be his partner in a magazine research project we had been assigned.... thus the beginning of a magnificent friendship.

To be continued...