Moving to the BIG city

I almost posted about class reunions but decided to put in writing what the big city held for this small town girl. Remember, this is the early 70's with anti-war protesting, rock stars dying left and right of overdoses, and the civil rights movement.

Right after HS one of my close friends enrolled at Ohio State. Cindy was a member of national honor, a pretty bright girl. Another classmate, Jeannie, was also at OSU. I spent many weekends on campus with them. Normally I took the Greyhound up and often got home a day or so after the weekend was over. You could drink at 18 in the bars and we did drink, and dance (to Sly and the Family Stone for one) into the wee hours. On my first trip to OSU Cindy said that Jeanne had met some people and we were going to meet them at McDonald's. I didn't know it at the time but the guys we met were an interesting group: one was a pimp (It's hard out Here for a Pimp), one was a drug dealer who had recently immigrated from Cuba, and the other was a schizo with a orange vet. Woo Hoo the party was on. Over time other law abiding, christian people joined the group. Ha. The thing was, I was shy and along for the ride and interestingly enough the guys pretty much left me alone. My friends, on the other hand were quite wild. I spent many an evening sitting in the living room higher than a kite with the other people in the group who weren't pairing up with whoever. You can't image what it was like to be in the car with a group of people and the pimp picks up his girl off the street, takes the money, drops her off at their place, and we went on to party. Honestly, I didn't spend too much time thinking about it at the time.



I was spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to get to Columbus full time. I had never worked and was going to the business school at home. I found out about a business school in Columbus and invited the rep to my house. I begged my parents to take out a student loan and send me off. They did, probably more to get me out of the house than anything else. This school had contracted apartments on the east side as a dorm-like place to live. I moved into a two-bedroom with 3 girls I had never met. There were house parents upstairs in an apartment. Their job was to keep us girls virginal and keep us from drinking. They did none of those things. They were a young couple. We pretty much came and went as we pleased. I was so ecstatic. I was on my own in the big city. Here's a picture of us having a good time.

And one of a guy I started dating. He was into some serious drugs. I knew nothing about LSD so one night while he was tripping I thought it would be funny to hide and jump out at him. Wrong. He flipped and someone had to take me out of there. Anyway four of us took off one weekend and drove through Detroit into Canada and across Canada to Niagara Falls and home. We were only allow to take a tooth brush. The trip was in a WV bug. Entering Canada was easy but on the way back to the US they tore that bug apart; the seats, the doors. They didn't find anything (thankfully). Did you know that they don't put the car back together. They leave that to you.


Oh, and my friend, the national honor society girl, she flunked out of OSU in two quarters - too much parting. Now I was in Columbus and she was back home!!

Another picture I found of me brushing my wavy hair. Check out the beer tab garland around the wall. Beer cans had removable tabs back then. Evidently children were smarter then and didn't try to swallow such things.

So now I had to very diverse sets of friends, my school friends who were innocents from small towns like me, and my wild campus friends who were anything but innocent. And there was also the drug using boyfriend. Talk about touching all types of people.

I started school in Columbus in March. Then in September a new crop of students came. The first morning I was sitting on the bus and we were picking up the boys who lived in another building. This guy walked on the bus and I though I'd died and gone to heaven. He was, to me, the most handsome guy I'd ever seen. I called dibs immediately. Someone told him I was interested and he showed up at my apartment door that night. That started a 3 year time during which I'd never been happier. I was totally and utterly in love. But you see, this love was a possessive, unhealthy love. When it ended I was devastated and had no desire to live. But fortunately I did. However I didn't fully get over him until 5 years ago. I went through a marriage and having children still thinking about him. Not fair to the x, surely, but what can I say. 30 years of wondering, wishing, dreaming.

I admire people who can love and love again. Over and over. My sister has been married 4 times and each time she truly loved the men. Unfortunately she kept picking men who couldn't be faithful. Here I was, for 30 years, still unable to get over it.

When he went back to his hometown and I was alone again I hooked up with the two girlfriends I'd mentioned above. Cindy was back lliving in Columbus. It was party time again.

Next, how what you think is your only true love can cause your heart to die and you make you do some things you wish you could take back.