poltr1 | My high school sweetheart......

One of the few happy memories I have of high school.

I first met Chris in the spring of 1980. We were at a high school carnival where each of the booths was run by a different club. Chris and I were members of the Comedy Workshop, and we were making french fries in the cafetria kitchen. She took a liking to me, but I was too oblivious to notice.

We'd pass in the halls and say hi for the next few months. When I asked her to sign my yearbook, she did so, and left her phone number. A few days later, I finally had the nerve to call her up and ask for a date. She accepted, and we'd get together on June 7th -- a Saturday -- at her parents' house. We didn't do much -- just sit down, talk, listen to music, and hold hands.

We had our second date a week later, in the basement of my parents' house. I asked if I could hold her, and she said yes. It felt wonderful to be in her arms. And then we kissed...and kissed. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I was getting intoxicated by all the new relationship energy between us, and it was blissful.

Yes, we did more than hug and kiss. We had dinner at each other's houses. Her dad made burgers with diced green pepper and onion inside them. My dad got KFC. We went out for miniature golf (and she got grounded for two weeks because she got home past her curfew time). We saw "The Empire Strikes Back" and got matching Yoda T-shirts. We swam in our pool. There wasn't a lot to do when the only transportation we had were our bicycles.

During her grounding, and when I was away canoeing at Algonquin Park, she wrote me a couple of love letters, and included some lavender bath beads. She even wrote a booklet of love poems. I think I still have that booklet and the letters somewhere. She was in love, and so was I, and it felt great.

At one of our dates in mid-August, she seemed to act a little strangely. She lay flat on her back on top of the studio couch in my parents' basement, and she was pushing me away. Later that night, on the phone, she told me what happened. It wasn't something I learned in sex ed class. She got wet.....very wet. And embarrassed. And scared.

Our last date together was seeing "Xanadu" at one of the local theatres.

The following Monday, she called me to break off the relationship. I was devastated. For the first semester of my senior year, she wouldn't even look at me when we passed each other. I kept asking myself, "What did I do wrong? Why did she break up with me?"

But the story doesn't end there. I got a call from her about 4 years later. She told me she had a daughter, whom she named Kirsten. My dad warned me, "Don't get involved with her!" It turns out some other guy knocked her up. We got together one summer evening, at the home of one of her friends. I think her parents tossed her out of the house. She had changed and grown up a lot since we last parted ways. I think I asked her why we broke up in the first place, and she said something like "I was the Virgin Queen back then." She was afraid back then that we'd get intimate, and she wasn't emotionally ready for it.

While we didn't resume dating, we did see each other one more time, in February of '85. By that time, I had a car. We met at her friend's house. We then drove to her apartment, and put her daughter in her crib in her room. Then she disappeared for a few minutes while she slipped into something more comfortable: baby-doll lingerie. She then lay in her bed and gave me a come-hither look. I stripped completely and joined her in bed. We made love. It was my first time. And I can still remember hearing "One More Night" by Phil Collins on the radio. Afterward, we chatted a little and held each other some more. Then we got up, got dressed, and returned to her friend's place.

I never saw or heard from her again after that night.

I sometimes wonder what she's doing now. Is she married? Does she have any more children? Is she even alive? Her daughter is close to 21 by now. Yes, it would nice to hear from her again, but there's no way we could have now what we had then.

So wherever you are, Chris......happy birthday, Pumpkin.