J + M

Ahhh....puppy love. Remember those days? Passing love notes in class. Riding your bike to a girl's house to put a note in her mailbox or on her door. Holding hands on the playground. Asking that infamous question: "Will you GO with me?" Talking about marriage at 7 years old....

I bet I asked Melinda Williams to marry me at least 1,000 times between 1st grade and 4th grade. Melinda and I "went together" for almost 4 years. Then I broke up with her in the 4th grade to "go" with Ashley Atkins. We were at a birthday party at Skateland, and I fell while skating (on purpose) and blamed it on a fatal knee disease...I told Melinda we needed to break-up because I wouldn't live past the age of 10 and she'd need time to get over me. When she agreed, I asked Ashley to be my partner for the Snowball Skate, and Ashley and I "went together" until we were in the 6th grade. I'm sure there were some brief break-up's of sorts from time to time, but those two girls were the loves of my life for most of my grade school days.

As a sign of my true love for Melinda, when I was in the 1st grade I decided to carve "J + M" into my bedside table. I guess that was the best way to proove my love for her. I'm sure I carved it into some trees around town...perhaps even painted it on the road down by Phillips Creek. Either way, within the 4 walls of my room, I professed my feelings for Melinda by carving my bedroom furniture.

I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I've had some of the same furniture all these years. As you can probably tell, I spend a lot of my time in the past. Not that it's a bad thing....I just like reflecting back on the good ol' days. Anyway, Hadley and I are in the process of moving into our new house, so you can only imagine what things I'm now being forced to let go of. Not that my tastes are all that bad....I think I have great tastes. But when it comes to that bedroom furniture, N-O-P-E. So I had to make the hard decision to take it to Good Will. Before I did, however, I had to take a picture to and document how passionate I was about Melinda when I was 7 years old...



Melinda, wherever you are....I just want you to know that it was worth it. Maybe I did get one heck of a spanking...and maybe I did get my bicycle taken away from me for a few weeks....but I made my point, didn't I?! And oh, by the way, my knee doesn't hurt any more....