We did go to the movies and saw The Bandit of Sherwood Forrest with Cornel Wilde, and on this, our first date, my stomach growled during the whole movie. We got along great , had a good time, and learned a lot about each other, Harry and I. We also ended up seeing that movie three more times but it was not because it was such a terrific movie. It was because it reminded us of how we felt on that first date.
The movie led to more dates and then about four months later Harry, or I should now be getting used to calling him Harold since I have met his mother, asked me to go steady giving me a Friendship Ring. That was around my sixteenth birthday and started a steady relationship that would encompass almost five years of dating exclusively except for one incident that almost jeapordized my whole future.
We had both graduated from high school, him a year before me. We were both working at our respective jobs, mine at Elder Manufacturing Company. I was a secretary in the Credit Department located on the first floor of the warehouse. Sometimes the workers from the manufacturing floors would flow past our desks on some errand or other. There was one young man named Bill and we both seemed to have an eye on each other. I think it's called infatuation. Sometimes we would happen to be on the same bus coming and going to work. He asked me out and after much deliberation I accepted but not without a lot of guilt. Why make a short story long? We went out four times but I did tell Harold about it before hand. He was angry, puzzled, and devastated. I was guilty, and the fear of losing someone so valuable who I loved, made me come to my senses. I'm sure it took a while for him to trust my love and loyalty again. Little did I know that he had told Jim, one of his friends. Jim's girlfriend was Anne and they tried to set him up on a date with one of Anne's best friends. I'm grateful that he never agreed to go out with this other girl or I could have very possibly lost my best friend and soulmate forever.
There were many dates to movies, ice hockey games, college and pro basketball, wrestling, drag races, dances, and some Saturday nights just hanging around the house reading the Sunday Funny Pages (comics), which were delivered the night before. We played a lot of card games with friends, such as Poker, Canasta, Blitz, and Pinochle (mostly played with my parents).
Church was a big part of our life at that time. There was Mass on Sundays, Confessions on Saturday nights, and Novenas. I remember one time at church when we were sitting next to each other trying to control our giggling. A man walked into the church, which was very quiet at the time, and up the aisle past us with very squeaky shoes echoing through the whole church. A strange thing to remember, I know!
There were also family gatherings which takes us to the next chapter, The Family Picnic.