Reply #31: Um John, you are only 16.

[Throckmorton]

Don't sweat the girlfriend thing, really, don't. I never dated a girl in High School either. True story, I wanted to ask the future Mrs. Throckmorton to the Senior Prom, she was a junior at another High School at the time. I asked her best friend, my friend’s sister, if she thought she would go with me. Her reply was that the future Mrs. Throckmorton was already dating someone else. Being shy and lacking all self image, I never asked her.

Fast forward 10 years. I am working at my volunteer job at a local cemetery, who drives in but the future Mrs., whom I haven’t seen in almost 10 years. We start talking, blah, blah, blah. and then she asks me, bolt out of the Blue "Why didn't you ask me to the Senior Prom?” I was floored and told her that mutual friend said you were already dating some guy. Well, it turns out that mutual friends ulterior motive was to get my mind off of the future Mrs. and onto her. Seems, she wanted me to ask her to the prom, which I never did BTW, and ended up no going at all.

Looking back over 25 years, it is all so obvious now. But, being shy, innocent, and of low self-esteem, it wasn't obvious in 1978. Actually, the big hint should have been when our mutual friend walked out of her bedroom topless, ‘By accident” a few days later. Unfortunately, all it did we make me beet red, and when she realized her brother was right behind me, she ran for the room at a sprint. Boy, was I clueless at 17.

Well, 18 months after our chance meeting we were married, today, October 12, is our 13th wedding anniversary. Which, unfortunately for us, has her once again hospitalized in the local hospital’s cancer ward. I wouldn’t trade the last 15 years for anything.