Today is my big brother's fifty-ninth birthday! Ronnie is the best brother in the whole wide world! He and I have been best friends ever since we were in diapers. Thanks to Ron, I grew up a tomboy, and I had a blast! He taught me how to walk on a fence rail, spiral a football, climb a tree, walk on stilts, roller skate, etc.!
Ronnie was also very protective of me—I was his little sister, and nobody had better hurt me or my feelings or 'they'd get it.' I loved him for that, sorta. Let me explain.
In Fort Worth, at Wedgwood Junior High, not to brag, Ronnie and I were kinda popular. Because of him and his older eighth grade friends, I was elected the secretary of the seventh grade! That was exciting, but not great, because all my job required, was me having to read a Bible verse, over the school intercom every morning. I was okay at it, even though most of the time I didn't understand what I was reading.
Like Cindy, our sweet older sister, Ronnie graduated junior high and went to Paschal High School, where he was even more popular. Because of his likable character, I suddenly had all of these 'new girlfriends' calling me, wanting to know if they could spend the night (in hopes of seeing Ronnie). Well, that got old for me, and besides Ronnie was already in love with beautiful Nita and he still is! Heck, they had been going steady ever since the eighth grade.
So, in 1967, when I graduated from Wedgwood, I had a choice to make that summer. I could either go to Paschal, or to Southwest High School, a just built high school in Wedgwood. I chose Southwest for two reasons. First, because my friends had all decided to go to the new high school, and secondly, was because I wanted to break away from being known as 'Ronnie's little sister.' I made the right choice.
Now here is where Ron's protectiveness plays a part. In October 1969, of my senior year, Cindy, Ronnie, Nita and I all decided to go camping, in a nearby state park. My parents were fine with it, but they didn't know that Ronnie had also invited his friend Steve, and that Nita had invited some visiting cousins, from Connecticut—who were really cool hippies, that had been at the Woodstock happening, and on top of that— they had a VW Van!
Our over night camp out was a lot of fun, and it was drug and alcohol free. Before we cooked our dinner over the campfire, I fell in love with Steve, because he was really good looking, and he could play lead guitar like Jimi Hendrix! After I fell in love, we fixed and ate dinner, then we sang and played our guitars into the wee hours.
A few months later, I found out from my boyfriend, Steve, that when he and other guys at Paschal, had asked Ron if he had a little sister they could date. Ronnie would tell them, "Yes, but you don't want to date her. She's really ugly and looks like ten miles of bad road!"
I love you, Ronnie—thanks for watching out for me—even though you lied! Happy 59th Birthday!
2 comments:
LOL I love that story Nancy. I had a protective brother too. He made sure I joined Marching band when I was in in 10th grade so I could meet new people. I didn't play an instrument so I carried a flag. I remember one band party when I was outside hanging with the cool kids and my brother was inside with the straight lacers. One guy that I kind of had a crush on told me he could not believe I was Rodd's sister. He said your cute and a lot of fun. I didn't know what to think but lets say I was all smiles.
I hope you had a super day Ron, Happy Birthday! Holiday Mathis from the LA Times predicts a great year ahead:
Today's birthday (July 11): Those who weren't aware of who you are will know you this year. You focus on the many ways that you are prosperous and tending to these gifts makes you even more prosperous. September brings a magical connection. You'll share resources and skills in November. December and June are so romantic. Libra and Aries adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 43, 37, 40 and 22.
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