Keepsakes and Dick Clark

Week 11 of the Accidental Knitter's ABC Meme.
The Letter is K

I was 14 years old...yes many, many, years ago.  Larry delivered the Daily Home News to our house every afternoon at around 3:00.   I of course would just happen to be sitting on our front stoop every afternoon at around 3:00.  Our house was his last stop.   When I look back now, I realize that he probably planned it that way.

After he handed me the paper, he would kind of hang around for awhile.

Larry lived around the corner on the next block.  We were almost exactly the same age.  Our birthdays were 5 days apart.   We would walk to school together and sometimes he would even carry my books.

Larry and I were not officially going steady, though.

In 1961 My girlfriend Cathy and I wanted to be on the T.V. dance show  Dick Clark's American Bandstand.  Cathy's Mom agreed to drive us to Philadelphia, which was about 1-1/2 hours from where we lived.    We decided, though, that we probably should bring our own dance partners, just in case no one on the show asked us to dance.

I asked Larry  and Cathy asked Mike.

After watching the show every afternoon after school, it was very exciting to actually be in the studio and see Dick Clark in person.

Larry and I danced all but one of the dances together.   Another boy from the show actually asked me to dance and I did dance one dance with this other boy.

On the drive home from the show,Cathy rode up front with her Mom.  Larry, Mike and I sat in the back seat.  Larry got up the courage to do the yawn and stretch move and put his arm around me for the first time.

After that when we would walk to school, or walk anywhere in fact, Larry would put his arm around me.

On February 14, 1962, Larry gave me a Valentine's Day card and this gift.

Now I suppose the L could have stood for Lynda, or Larry, or maybe Larry Loves Lynda.

After that I guess it was official that Larry and I were goin' steady. 

We went to our Senior Prom together.

All of the girl's got a charm.

The Valentine's gift, the prom picture and the charm are three keepsakes which bring back memories of a  special and carefree time of my life.

After high school Larry went off to college and I went to work in the Credit Department of Montgomery Wards.

The last time I saw Larry, I was visiting my parents.  My daughter was 2 and I was pregnant with my second child.   Larry was married and he and his wife were expecting their first child.  That was over 35 years ago.

Of course since then, and up until now, I have collected other keepsakes of many other memorable times in my life.

Keepsakes are memory joggers.  Sometimes you just need to look through that old shoe box and reminisce about those precious moments, don't you?

For more K posts click here here.