CV Rick’s Thirteen First Meme

First day of school:
(I searched for a picture and couldn’t find one. It was the one time I was cute, too.)
Our house sat on a bluff and you could see straight across the valley to the school. Both Mike Taylor and I had afternoon session of Kindergarten. In the west corner of our backyard sat a finished brick and flagstone barbecue where Mike and I sat all that morning waiting, waiting for the bell to end morning session, knowing that then we’d get our turn at school. I remember being so excited. My teacher was Mrs. Espinoza. Two things stand out from that day, oh mi gawd forty-six years ago:
1) Out of three afternoon kindergarten classes, six of the five year olds in my neighborhood were in my class. Six of us: Mike, Pam, George, Karin, Jody, and myself. We sat in a group three in front, three in back and all except Mike and I cried; unfortunately we were sitting in the middle of the others holding our ears shut.
2) In my class there were six girls named Debbie, it was then I decided in needed a different name.

First kiss:
I think I was in about the fifth grade. We were playing dress up in Kim Simmons garage. I loved playing dress up at Kim’s house because she had all her mom’s old square dancing petticoats. They were awesome. Kim was a year younger than me, her brother was a year older and in the middle of playing dress up one day he kissed me. While I remember it, I don’t actually remember the kiss. Keith was also there the first time I played doctor.

First date:
Ronnie Ables, his name will come up later too. I was a freshman, he was a Junior with the blackest hair and bluest eyes. He took me to see a James Bond double header at the La Habra drive in his truck.

First car:
A 1958 two tone – root beer and cream – Chevy Belaire automatic. I drove it for a year and a half with no license. I loved that car, it was dependable, a great heater and defroster.

First time:
People always tell me this doesn’t count. But in my head it does. It was kind of a date rape situation, although we weren’t dating, just messing around. When I said no, he didn’t listen. He was very apologetic when he realized I’d been a virgin. He later, I mean years later, apologized, and then tried it again. He didn’t like my knee.

First break up:
Ronnie broke up with me, we dated some more, he went out with Doreen, a chick at Monte Vista. I was heart broken. We dated some more. He broke up with me, dated Doreen. This went on for a year and a half. To this day, when a relationship is over, it is dead over.

First 'real' job:
My cousin was a groom at Paradise Turf when I was in high school. When I was fifteen she got me a job mucking stalls. I loved it, absolutely loved it. I worked there for two summers, when I was in town (this was in Phoenix, we lived in LA, but spent a lot of time at my aunt’s.)

First time to lose a job:
Bizaar story. My third job was working as a waitress in the best restaurant in Florence, at the beginning of my senior year. I am a shitty waitress, the job just did not click with me, but I was trying. Suddenly one-day the restaurant’s owner called me into his office and told me he had to lay me off. I understood laid off and was thankful I wasn’t being fired, because I didn’t want that on my work record. A week or so later (I had two jobs at the time) my other boss called me and asked why I’d written a piece for the paper? I’d not. The article accused my other employer of paying slave wages of $1 an hour to children. First off, I was 17, I knew $1 an hour was not minimum wage, but getting paid to ride horses was a dream and I accepted the pay gladly. I did not write the article. But both my bosses (I didn’t realize at the time they lived next door to each other) thought out of the barn crew I was the only one smart enough to write the article. So boss number two kindly laid me off. Now really, don’t you see that as a compliment? And I was a bad waitress.

First time in love:
Ronnie, to this day he is a wonderful pleasant memory. The guy had unbelievable fingers. But we never had sex. He gave me my first orgasm, and it would be a full ten years, two husbands, many boyfriends later before I would get to experience another.

First drink:
Hmmm, I don’t remember exactly (but kind of) my first drink. I’ve really never been much of a drinker, but I would have to assume it was Boones Farm Blackberry Mountain in high school. Shhhhh, it was on a nighttime horse ride out to the beach at work.

First Sign of a Backbone:
Seventh grade on the bus I said Pam’s brother was a brat (he really was) and she took offense at it. I can understand, I mean we stand up for our siblings. When we got off the bus to begin our three block walk home, Pam kept harping at me that she was going to kick my butt. I’ve had my butt kicked a lot of time and it’s not my favorite pastime, but Pam pushed it too far when she ripped the French cuff off my favorite dress. I punched her in the nose and she bled all the way home. It is not to say that I have a wicked punch, she just has a nose that bleeds really easy (she used it to get out of math test all the time) and I took advantage of the fact.

First Ambition:
I wanted to be a Playboy Bunny. Well what girl doesn’t want to be ogled by all the guys? Adored from a far, up close, and personal? And in magazines with boobs? Hey, I was maybe five or six and the neighbor guy had all their pictures on his garage door when I was little. We would crane our heads back to stare up at the pictures on the garage door. I remember they seemed so beautiful. Filters.

First Realization of Mortality:
Maybe the question should have been the first realization of morality. Really, I’m not sure. I’ve always understood mortality, and I have not really been touched much by death. While I remember my dad’s mother (I was two and a half when she died) I don’t remember her dying. My great grandmother died when I was in grade school. And my baby brother died when I was in sixth grade. All these things I understood, so I really can’t answer this one.

This is an open Meme so please if you want to play along do and leave your link below. JulieAnn you’ve already played this one so get to work on the greatest list. Er, please.

Sith,
Cele