Saturday, November 12, 2005
A Date With Roger
Again, having depleted my own stores of brainstorming material, (one must actually OWN a brain to be able to brainstorm), I retreated to the "Memory Triggers" website, where I was spurred into thinking by the idea of my "First Love". That brought back an entire novel's worth of memories, all of which would be worth mentioning except for the fact that one can only write so much in one post without losing one's readers to boredom.
His name was Roger Evans. Yes, this is his real name. He lived not far from me in Montclair, California, attended Kindergarten with me, and I was madly in puppy love with him. My brother, owing to the fact that brothers tend to act less civilized about their sibling's personal lives, called him Roger Mudd. I'm not sure exactly the reason for this except that perhaps he'd heard this name from the news (?). Roger and I used to play together at school, and would sit together during the music part of our class, where, at one point, another little boy had lifted my skirt to see my panties. The "other" boy was constantly telling me to "forget" Roger and go with him. I didn't want to! I LIKED Roger! Roger asked me out on a date, and when our parents approved it, we went, accompanied by Roger's mother, to Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Parlor. We ate Bubble Gum ice cream, and I remember taking the gumballs out of the ice cream to save them for last. I don't remember much of what happened to our relationship after the date. I think that we still played together, but I remember the emotion of indifference at some point. I don't believe I ever "went" with the other boy, as I thought (even at five years old) that he was a bit of a rounder. I don't remember Roger in any classes after that, nor do I recall playing with him again. I think he must have moved. Perhaps it was for the best, as we moved, ourselves, two years later to Washington state. However, there must have been something to it, as I still recall his name and our date, thirty-two years later.
Maybe Roger is the reason why Baskin Robbins, to me, will always be the best ice cream, and why if the ice cream is going to be bubble gum flavored, I won't eat it unless it has whole bubblegum balls. Roger, if you're out there, I hope that your life has been exciting and wonderful and that you have all the "bubblegum balls" you ever dreamed of.
