My Map is Pink!!!

I have kept this map at my desk since November of 2012 (http://tempestinapot.blogspot.com/2012/11/rainbow-tide-coming-through.html) & now it is totally pink!  I know there are some grinches who are trying to steal marriage from couples, but they won't last.  And just so you know I smiled as I colored in those last 13 states.  The county I grew up in started marrying same-sex couples on June 29th.  Good job Crawford County, good job.

Day 10: Drinking the Summer Away

After that night at the fair my last few weeks before going away to college followed a pattern.  I worked at my summer job during the day and in the evening I would find myself riding around with Natalie and Debbie.  They would show up with alcohol and we would go to the convenience store I worked at to get ice and cups.  Natalie drove, she was the only one of us with a car.  Debbie sat in the front passenger seat of the car, and I was in the back seat preparing and refreshing our drinks.  We would drink Boone's Farm, Riunite wine, or whatever booze we could get our underage hands on.

Once we had everything we needed we would drive around on the gravel roads which crisscrossed Crawford County.  After awhile one of them would shout out, "JAMS, JAMES!"  I would grab Natalie's tape case and pull out a random cassette and we would sing along at the top of our lungs to Prince, Joan Jett, or Cyndi Lauper..  After the bottle was empty Natalie would take us home. 

The house I grew up in sat on a hill and Natalie always dropped me off at the bottom.  Drunk and hoarse I would roll out of the back seat and crawl up the hill.  The two of them would laugh at my careening trek up the driveway.  Once inside I would sneak past my family and go to my room, passing out in a drunken stupor.  I can't imagine drinking like this now, or getting in a car with someone else drinking like that and driving.  We were young and stupid and life seemed endless to us.

When Natalie kept showing up to my house, a part of me was happy to have someone else to spend time with.  The fact that she had a car was an added bonus.  I promised to be honest and there was one more incentive.  Natalie had been claimed by Mollie as her best friend and apparently more than I knew at the time.  By my senior year I was not a fan of Mollie and spending time with her supposed best friend gave me a vindictive thrill.  I know that is not a nice thing to admit, but I was 18 and not the person I am today. 

Regardless of the reasons, spending those late summer nights with Natalie and Debbie were some of the best times I ever had in Crawford County. We would laugh and talk about our future.  Natalie and I were going to start college soon, and Debbie was looking for a full time job.  We were three young women waiting for out lives to begin.  We were just really lucky that we didn't drive off those gravel roads and kill our silly selves. 



Day 7: Ready to Rumble

High School is this crazy microcosms of life.  Every event is magnified to the height of drama for maximum emotional effective.  My high school was small enough that everyone was a part of the daily serial.  Nothing could tempt me to repeat those 4 tormented years of my life.  My senior year was exceptionally difficult.  I was trying to get into college, find ways to pay for college, and navigating the usual obstacles which challenge most young women. 

Natalie and I did not socialize much outside of Speech Meets.  She spent most of her time with Mollie and to make sure no one knew they were a couple Natalie even dated one of my classmates.  Mollie, in fact, was hot in pursuit after one of my cousins.  Throw into that my best friend was also in pursuit of the same said cousin and much mean girl posturing ensued.  Mollie even went as far as to make it known Natalie was going to beat my friend up.  If you know Natalie, you know how silly a statement that is.  Like I said, much drama.

One night my best friend and I were driving around, and yes we were drinking, her quite a bit, and who do we run into, but Mollie and Natalie.  I knew this encounter was not going to go over well.  My friend was all drunk and aggressive, Mollie acted like the victim in this drama, and Natalie was clueless as to what was happening.  All I could do was keep my friend moving and get her out of there as quickly as possible.  I wanted this crisis averted and fast. As we were almost out the door, I turned around and saw the look of anger on Natalie's face.  Once again I had that feeling that here was a person I would never be friends with.  I chalked it to one of the causalities of living in a small county.  One day soon I would be far from Crawford County and none of this silliness would matter, I thought. How wrong I was.