PROM KING

A few years ago Marilane and I spent a few hours with an old high school friend.  She lives only a few miles from my sister in Maryland and about a half hour from my daughter and family.  On one of our trips to visit them, we included Annette.   During the course of our reminisces, she brought out a photo of us, Prom King and Queen.  Her being voted queen was a no-brainer, she was the prettiest girl in school, smart, well-liked.  While I was well-liked, it was pretty much a default.  Our graduating class of twenty broke down to fourteen girls and six guys.  Of the six, three were only there for the senior year, one was pretty much a loner, and the other had to work when not at school thus wasn't into school activities.  That left me. The guy standing next to Annette was Dick M (I know the last names) and next to him was his sister, Joanne.  Next to me was my date, Donna, then someone, then Bobby.  Donna lived in Baltimore, I lived in Riverdale.  That's about thirty miles or over an hour driving in those days.

 In my freshman year no one in high school lived in Glenn Dale; truthfully, hardly anyone lived in Glenn Dale.  I rode the public school bus to Laurel, about 15 miles away, with the elementary and junior high kids.  I wasn't old enough to drive, so there wasn't any after-school activity for me.  We were living in my cousin's house while they were in Florida for a couple years.  The house was next to a railroad track and there was a dirt road that ran along side of it.  On this road I learned to drive, that is, shift and steer, in a 1941 Ford.

We moved to Rogers Heights in my sophomore year.  I carpooled with a bunch of upper classmen.  The driver was Dick somebody, the other guy, Jimmy,  eventually went into the priesthood, and I will have to dig into the yearbook to remember the two girls.  I got my driver's license shortly after my sixteenth birthday and was allowed to drive the family car (1954 Ford station wagon) to and from school.  I picked up a few carpool folks myself, one of whom was Judy B.  I remember her because shortly after high school she died in childbirth.

Having the car allowed me to join after-school activities.  I was awarded a letter-sweater in girl's basketball because 1) I went to all the games and 2) provided transportation to the team.  There were no other sports at that time, although boys basketball came shortly thereafter.  I also made a name for myself in that in order to get the car started, I needed to push it down the slight slope in the parking lot and pop the clutch.  In Rogers Heights we lived on a steep hill, so it was much easier.  This went on for over a month until we got it fixed (I think it was the starter motor).  I also drove Sr. Michael and a couple of girls to Huntington, West Virginia to the nun's motherhouse.

One other thought just ran through my mind.  Annette played basketball and we both had the same memory: Judy J could drain six out of ten shots from mid-court, besides being a phenomenal all-around player.  For the younger folks, girls basketball was half-court back then.  Three forwards and three guards who could not cross the half court line.

That's a lot of memories from one picture.  I'll go trolling through the albums and find another.