When I think about Johnnie, I remember that year when I was 15 and he 16. We were both in summer school.

Summertime play with cottontails

I was there just to have fun, unlike my sister and Johnnie. I did well in school but had a problem with boredom when my sister had to be in school in the summer.

Mary Anne  had some trouble subjects in school and had to go to summer school almost every year. Johnnie was not sure he cared about anything but having some fun in life.

And I decided that since Mary Anne was my main person to hang out with, I would go to summer school with her. I signed up for personal typing and mechanical drawing.
Of course, mechanical drawing was well beyond my scope since I was an fine artist who drew many abstract creations. I had to drop the mechanical drawing at the insistence of the teacher who said,

” Some people just never can understand the 3 dimensions of mechanical drawing technique.” So I ended up with 2 long study halls after my personal typing class.
Than is when I met Johnnie. He was cute, with blonde curls and blue eyes that sparkled like the stars in the sky. And since I was just 15, I had to do some challenging and adventurous things in life.

I called myself a rebel without a cause when I was a teen, and my dad hated it. He tried to make a lady out of me by telling me that my dresses were too short or my hair was too long but I like it that way and continued on with my teen life doing as I pleased; considering myself a bit of a hippie.

So when Johnnie walked up to me in study hall one early afternoon, and he asked. ” Want to go for a ride with me?” I was quick to respond.

“Yes!” and we were on our way.

I did not know that it was not Johnnie’s car when we started our joy ride, and because Johnnie was as short like me ( I am only 5 ft. tall), a  police officer found us quite suspicious. We were pulled over after just a few miles down Big Tree Road in Hamburg, New York.

Well that was the end of my day with Johnnie. Being taken home in the police car was not my dad’s favorite day!

Johnnie and I continued dating for some time after that, went to the Junior Ball and that was that!

And Johnnie ( of course not his real name), and I still talk on occasion about our days long past!