I'm stealing from Charlotte with her first car idea.
Tell us about any of:
Your first trip away from home without your parents Your first date or kiss Or something else which was a real first for you.
My first date my mother wouldn't allow me to go on. I was in grade four and a girl in grade five asked me out. Mom said no. My first trip away from home was memorable though. Grade 11 and one of the guys had a car and his parents let him have it to go to their cottage with his friends. I was invited and unbelievably my father insisted I be allowed to go. It was wild to be out there at 16 where we bought a blueberry pie and a couple of loaves of fresh bread and I have no idea who the heck knew how to cook anything. We went to some local dance I remember and I recall talking to some girls while discovering what terrible things alchohol does to you. I remember we bought a bucket of KFC on the way up and had a food fight. It was the first time I slept on the floor. I didn't know you could do that before. Nobody changed into their pajamas. Everybody slept in their clothes. I didn't know you could do that either. From start to finish when they dumped me and my stuff off in the driveway and my mother came running out praising God that I was still alive - it was a riot.
My first kiss took forever. It was on the porch of the soon to be prom queen who I would have married except my nervousness about myself exceeded her patience I believe. A week after she dumped me my replacement was boasting in the locker room of his conquest complete with disparaging remarks about the wannabee who hadn't. She was clearly willing to do more than I was ready for and I won't lie that was a hard thing for me to go through. My first experience was with Dianne which wasn't her first either (another blow to Wolf's tiny ego at the time) but I married her anyway and so now I'm here typing this.
The first time I left home other than going to camp was when I was 12. I went to Vancouver, BC with a neighbor to visit her parents. It was the first time I ever heard a sofa/couch called a chesterfield; vinegar put on fries instead of catsup; first time on a bus or trolley (we took the trolley to some place I can't remember); first time visiting Girl Guides; and a few other phrases unique to Canadians I can't remember. It was also where I was when I had my first menstrual period with horrible cramps. I was so scarred but her mom was so sweet. A lot better than my own mom would have been. Sad my first visit to Canada is remembered by that event in my life!
Next was when I was 13 I had saved my money from summer work, bought a ticket to Boston where I went and lived with my older sister for the year. Her husband sub was docked in Portsmouth for major repairs. We lived in this big 3 story house with basement just across the NH border in York, ME. I grew up in a 3 bedroom, 1 bath house so this was a big change. No showers, just claw foot tubs in the bathrooms (2 on the second floor, 1 on the 3rd). First time in my life I had my own bedroom. The 3rd floor bathroom had one of those old toilets that you pulled the chain to flush with water from a tank above it. This house had so much character to it I absolutely loved it. It had a huge yard including acreage with trees. The river was a short walk away. When the tide was out we would go catch little crabs, take them up to the road and see how long before they were smashed by cars! I had just graduated from an 8 grade school (1-8: did not have kindergarten) with about 300 kids with 18 in my 8th grade class. It was the first time I went to a school (my freshman year in a middle school) where I was not known by anyone and definitely not known as someones younger sister. I had gone from being the oldest/top class in a school to still be the oldest/top class - escaped freshman initiation! I was like a celebrity - every one wanted to know what it was like to live in the 'wild' west, live with earthquakes, etc. I had boyfriends growing up but they really did not count since we had all grown up together. In York is where I had my first real crush. It was also the first time in my life I could remember not having to keep and ear and/or eye out for my abusers. That year gave me a chance to get some self confidence and strength for when I went home I was able to stand up to them, especially my dad. When I went back home, the first time he tried to use a belt on me I crabbed it and hit him across the face with it. He never tried again!
So it was the year I grew up, was able to find out who I was separate from older siblings who had had the same teachers or kids that knew them.
My maternal grandmother was born in England, and when I was ten years old, she took me back with her for three months. I loved meeting all the relatives (English and also a lot of my Irish relatives, who were working in England because of the bad economy in Ireland at the time.) The family took us all over the country, obviously trying to brainwash the Yankee niece into becoming an Anglophile. I think I saw every cathedral and point of interest there was to see. At that time, you were allowed right into the standing stones at Stonehenge--I remember sitting on some of the big stones that had fallen down. I rode my cousin's bike all over the country lanes in Hampshire, and did a lot of swimming down at Bournemouth where one of my old aunts lived. They took me on a coach tour of Scotland, and I've loved the Highlands ever since. It was just a wonderful trip--I didn't miss my parents and brothers one bit--I was too busy enjoying the only time in my life that I was an "only child." I remember seeing the Queen Mother at St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, attending a cousin's wedding in the little Norman church in Bishop's Sutton (Hampshire again), and dancing all kind of fun dances (Knees Up Mother Brown, Gay Gordons, etc.) at the big party the family threw for us just before we returned to the States. I've been to the U.K. and Ireland quite a few times since then…at least, until Alzheimers intruded…but there has never been another trip quite like that one…my first trip to England and Scotland and getting to know the huge extended family over there.
When I was 15 years and 8 months I got my driver's permit and could drive during daylight hours with an adult. My Brother who was in the US Air Force was scheduled to be shipped over seas and asked my Dad if I could come to Salt Lake City and ride with him back to Key West so he could leave his VW Bug there while he was overseas. My Dad got my Mom to agree and they got me a ticket to fly from Miami to Salt Lake City. My parents drove me to the airport in Miami and walked me to the gate. The last thing they told me was it was a non-stop flight and it would take me directly to Salt Lake City. I got on the plane and everything went ok right up until the pilot announced their approach to land in the Houston Texas Airport. Having never been on an airplane before I just knew I had gotten on the wrong plane. After landing they announced that you could now depart the aircraft at which point I went from knowing I was on the wrong plane to just out and out panic. After a lot of people got off the stewardess came over and asked me if I needed anything and I said yes, I got on the wrong plane and I don't know what to do. I was pretty upset and I started telling her how I didn't but have about $10.00. Was that enough to pay to get to Salt Lake City from here. If not would it be enough to take a bus and where is the bus station and what would happen with my bags? I think I was talking at about 1,000 miles per hour. At some point I must have stopped talking long enough for her to put me out of my misery because I suddenly heard the words "you are on the right plane" and "Salt Lake City is the next stop" to which I replied "my Dad said my plane was non-stop". I still love that stewardess to this day.
I got to Salt Lake City where my Brother picked me up and I had the greatest adventure of my young life with my Brother driving back to Key West. Every time we stopped for gas he had to crawl under the car and touch something together with a screw diver to start the car again or he had to push it and I popped the clutch. When we got to Wildwood Florida we only had about $18.00 left. We stopped and asked a lady how much a room was and while we were trying to decide rather to get a room or food in the morning she told us we could stay in a room free if we would be gone before 6:00am when her boss came in. We were gone by 5:00am. We ran out of gas and money about two miles from home and had to call our Father to bring us gas.
That trip was one of the greatest things on my life and I would do it again today. My Brother went overseas and later got married and life starting setting our priorities until last summer. We decided to start doing something together for one week every summer from now on. I got to pick it last summer and we both went to clown school together and we had a great time. This year he has decided we are going to a dude ranch. I told him ok but will need an old horse that knows what he is doing, where he is going and when to get there.
Anchor, my girlfriend in high school had a Volvo. To start it one person had to turn the key while the kther shorted across the starter with a screwdriver. Sounds similar to w g at your brother had to do. The guys would give us strange looks when we girls did it.
The year was 1945. Still in the army. Just back from overseas. Stationed at Camp Pindale, Fresno. I was 23 years old and had never really had a girlfriend. I had always been kind of bashfull around girls. My army buddie, Don Cook, had made arrangements for me to meet his girlfriend's 18 year old sister.
On meeting her, I was immediately overwhelmed by her exuberance and beauty.She was so cheerful and happy and best of all she seemed to like me. But I knew she was very popular and had several boy friends. The next day, Don asked me when I was going to see her again and I told him I didn't know. Well, Don called me a dummy and gave me a little lecture about dating girls, but he set up another date and told me from now on, you're on your own. So I got another chance and I was in heaven. From then on, Helen was on my mind constantly. I was so happy.
On the second date I was waiting for her out in front of the telephone company where she worked as an operator. There were girls coming out and I was not sure which one was Helen. One girl came out that looked like Helen but she just looked at me and didn't say anything. I didn't know what to do but I started following her down the street. Then I heard someone yell "Hey George"....Of course it was Helen who had just come out and fortunately saw me walking down the street. Wow.... I was so relieved.
After the third date, something terrible ended it all. I awoke at the army base with a high fever and a pain in my right knee. I knew immediately that it was a reoccurrence of osteomylitis which had plagued me several times since my high school days. I also knew, from my previous experiences with it, that I would be confined to a hospital for many months, being treated with drugs, before I would be cured. And worst of all, I knew that I would never see Helen again. They put me in a place called the infirmary, to be transferred to the hospital at Hammer Field the next day. I had told Don to give Helen the bad news. The pain in my leg, together with the high fever was bad, but the pain in my heart over losing Helen was all I could think about. It was about six o'clock in the evening and I was just lying there in the infirmary, feeling so bad, when this soldier came to my bed and asked if I was Sgt. Streit. He told me that he worked at the base message center, and there was a telephone operator at the Fresno switchboard who made him promise to write and hand deliver this little note to a Sgt. Streit at the base infirmary. He handed me the little note and said "Here it is.,,, I had to walk all the way down here from headquarters, but I kept my promise".
I remembered then that Helen did work for the telephone co. as a switchboard operator, and as I read the little note, the tears came to my eyes..... They still do.....
That little note changed my life forever, and I have kept it close to me all these years. This is what it read. "Miss you very much. Hope you get well soon. My fingers are crossed for you. With all my love Helen"
That was it.....The happiest time of my life.....
I think I should mention that on my third date with my Dear Helen, when I said goodbye to her, she told me that I could give her a kiss if I liked. So I did. Then she said (and I remember her exact words) "Do you call that a kiss?"......I explained to her that I had never kissed anyone before. We did not kiss in our family. It was my very first Kiss. Which makes it all the more remarkable that she would stay with me for two and a half months while I was in the hospital. Visiting every day, even tho I was such a terrible kisser. This helps to explain why I loved her so much....... Can you blame me? .