A Well Lived Life Book 6 Kara IChapter 44 Spring Break 1982 Part I
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March, 1982, Milford, Ohio
On Wednesday morning, I swam with Stephanie and we ate breakfast together. I avoided talking about Saturday or what we might do. I still had no clue what I should do, and the implications of my decision were huge. I wondered if Stephanie could handle the conversation about the deep meaning behind what she was asking, and I wondered if she understood the implications. The fact that she and Jennifer were talking meant that she and Jennifer could have discussed this and it could be part of a plan between them to get Jennifer and me back together. I didn’t detect that, but it didn’t have to be overt — it could even be subconscious on Stephanie’s part.
When she left for school, I went back to the Spencers’. I was having lunch with my dad, but he had gone to work and I just didn’t feel like hanging around the house with my mom today. I’d avoided any confrontation, and I really wanted to keep it that way. I decided that I was going to sit in the sauna to clear my head and think, even though that struck me as contradictory.
I adjusted the sauna temperature and went back to my room to undress. I put my robe on and walked back down the hall to the master bathroom, hung up my robe, and went into the sauna. I ladled my usual amount of water onto the rocks and was rewarded with hissing as steam quickly filled the room. I sat down, closed my eyes, and leaned back. I breathed deeply and allowed the steam to work its magic on me. I had been in the sauna for about five minutes when the door opened a crack.
“Steve? Do you mind if I come in?” Mrs. Spencer asked. “This is my usual time in the sauna.”
I quickly unfolded my towel and wrapped it around my waist.
“Sure. I’m decent,” I said.
She laughed and walked in, “Decent? You? In the sauna?”
“OK. I covered myself with the towel just before you walked in,” I chuckled.
She had a towel wrapped around her, as well as one around her hair. She came in and sat down on the bench about two feet from me. I wasn’t uncomfortable, and except for that first time when I was fourteen, I’d never worried about Melanie’s mom seeing me naked. But, given that we were the only two in the house, I was exercising caution, and she obviously was as well.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you. That’s why I put the towel on. I don’t usually do that, as I’m sure you don’t usually sit with the towel around your waist.”
“Only when I’m with people who might otherwise be uncomfortable. Then I used a towel or bathing suit. But I prefer not to, of course.”
“What’s with the steam? It’s thick enough to cut with a knife!” she said.
I chuckled, “You haven’t done a ‘safety check’ in years. I started using a lower temperature with a lot of steam when I was in Sweden. I find it helps me relax and helps me clear my mind. You don’t mind?”
“No, not at all. It’s fine. You’re sure you’re OK with me being here?”
“Yes, of course. It’s no big deal. I use the sauna a lot with people who are just friends.”
She smiled, “I’m glad you consider Frank and me your friends. We owe you a lot for everything you’ve done for Melanie. At one point, we thought there might be a future for you two, but Melanie had different ideas.”
“That she did. And it’s fine. She belongs with Pete. We had a lot of fun together, but it was just fun.”
“Oh, I remember!” she said with a smile. “She said you curled her toes. Repeatedly. And I saw you in here when I did that ‘safety check’!”
“You certainly did! I was really embarrassed, but Melanie was cool about it. Then you brought us Cokes while we were in the tub and she decided to tease you back.”
“That was pretty gutsy, Steve, walking downstairs, naked, with a teenage girl, to see her parents.”
“I trusted her completely. I still do, actually.”
“Do you trust me enough to let me take off my towel?”
I thought about it. I certainly trusted myself enough, given I had no interest in women who were more than a few years older or younger than me. If she’d been twenty-two instead of thirty-four, that might be different. And other than a bit of teasing almost five years ago, she’d never made me uncomfortable.
“Sure,” I said.
She took her towel off and sat back down. She looked a lot like Melanie, though, with slightly larger breasts. They could easily have been sisters. I decided that I was comfortable with it, so I stood up, refolded my towel and sat back down on it. I added additional water to the rocks and more steam hissed into the sauna. Despite sitting naked with a gorgeous woman, I didn’t feel any sexual tension at all, and my mind was rapidly clearing.
When I reached my maximum time, about thirty minutes, I got up to head to the shower.
“I must be losing my touch,” Mrs. Spencer said with a smirk.
“No, you aren’t. You are drop dead gorgeous and have a fantastic body. But you’re my friend’s mom, you’re married, and I stick to girls who are within three or four years of my age. I’m just not a Ben Braddock kind of guy,” I grinned.
Well, that wasn’t quite true, because of Jennie McGrath, now Sanders, but Trudy Spencer did not know about that and didn’t need to. She did get my reference, of course.
Mrs. Spencer laughed, “I guess I’m no Mrs. Robinson, either. I’d never cheat on Frank, but I would have been flattered if you had a normal reaction!”
“Well, to be honest, it did take a bit of concentration to prevent that,” I said. “In a different universe, it might have happened. But not in this one.”
“No, not in this one. I’ll tuck that idea safely away in my fantasy life where it belongs.”
I closed the door and got into the shower. As I was drying off, Mrs. Spencer came out of the sauna and showered. I grabbed my robe walked back to my room to dress, not bothering to put the robe on to walk down the hall. When I dressed, I went downstairs and made a pot of coffee and poured two cups. Mrs. Spencer came and sat with me to drink her coffee.
“How are things with Kara?” Mrs. Spencer asked. “You’ve brought her here quite a lot.”
“They’re good. We’re down to less than four months before she moves to Chicago with me. And, barring a kick in the balls from that ruthless bitch, Fate, we’ll probably get married in 1985 or 1986, depending on where I end up finding a job.”
“So similar to Pete and Melanie, I guess.”
“Pretty much,” I agreed. “We’re more or less on the same course, though Kara won’t be going to graduate school. Does Melanie know what law school she wants to attend?”
“Not yet. She’s waiting to see where Pete gets his job. She’ll apply once she knows. Frank thinks Pete will probably end up with the FBI, but Pete’s planning to apply to the U.S. Marshals, the Secret Service, and the State Department. His backup plan is to get a commission in the Navy, but Frank and I are pretty sure with his grades, personality, and spotless past, he’ll end up in one of the Federal law enforcement services.”
“Does Melanie know what kind of law she wants to practice?”
“Criminal defense. She said you talked her into that.”
I chuckled, “Well, I told her it was the only kind of law worth practicing. When the government comes for you, they have all the resources. The only thing protecting you from them is your attorney and twelve jurors. That’s a noble job. And it’s one that fits Melanie’s personality. She’d be a hellacious prosecutor, but I’d prefer to see her ruthlessness on the side of the defense!”
Mrs. Spencer laughed, “Well, as an unreformed hippie, I have to say that I agree with you. Frank and I were in at the beginning of the movement in the very early 60s, and Melanie was born in ‘62. We lived in the commune until she was four, and I was nineteen. Frank decided we needed to be on our own once he graduated from Berkeley. Like your parents, we moved here in the early 70s because California had gotten too weird even for us flower children! I think you once mentioned that after the Watts riots, Charles Manson, and the earthquake in ‘71, your parents had enough. It was about the same time for us.”
“What was living in the commune like?” I asked.
“Better than being at home. I got pregnant when I was fourteen and my dad kicked me out of the house. Frank was still living at home and his parents wouldn’t let me move in, so the two of us found a group of other kids in their late teens and early twenties in San Francisco and moved in with them. Frank’s parents were pretty cool about the whole thing in the end. They kept paying for his college and he worked a part-time job to get enough money to buy our food and pay for our part of the rent.
“Some of the kids in the group were part of the free love movement, so there was a lot of sex, but Frank and I stuck only to each other. I think mostly that was because I was pregnant with his kid. But their attitudes wore off on us, I guess. It’s really funny. Frank and I are completely sexually open and liberated, and yet, I’ve never even kissed another man besides him and he had one short-term girlfriend before me and never did more than kiss her.
“Melanie has had more sex partners than her dad and I, obviously, and she’s far more conservative in most areas than we are. You know she’s very open about her sexuality, but otherwise, sadly, our daughter is a Republican. But then again, most of her friends are, including you, though I don’t think that’s going to last long. You really aren’t a Republican, but I can see the attraction Ronald Reagan would have for you, especially after Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter. Unless I miss my guess, you’ll end up an independent and a libertarian. It fits your personality.”
“Well, I certainly have no love for the Evangelical wing of the Republican Party,” I declared. “The Moral Majority scares the hell out of me. I guess I’m more in line with Barry Goldwater at the moment than anything. I’ve been reading a lot of stuff that the Founding Fathers wrote, especially Jefferson, Adams, and Madison. So, maybe you’re right. We’ll see. You don’t seem upset with Melanie’s political leanings.”
“Of course not. She’s an intelligent young woman. She makes her own choices and decisions and we’ve let her do that since she was little. If I can give you one piece of advice — let your kids make their own decisions as soon as they’re able to understand right and wrong, even in the most basic sense. We did that with Melanie. It was risky, and it almost ended in tragedy, but it was still the right thing to do.”
“I agree with you,” I said. “I have to say, back then, I was shocked that you would let me come here and have sex with her, and not just tolerate it, but encourage it.”
“It was a healthy thing for both of you,” she said, then paused for a few seconds. “And it gave me some interesting fantasies about being with another guy. I guess I just had to live them vicariously through Melanie!”
“Mrs. Spencer,” I said with a smile, “if I were to ever violate my rule of not getting involved with someone who was in an exclusive relationship, and I could set aside my age bracket, you’d be the first person I’d come to!”
She smiled, “Thanks for that amazing compliment. You have perhaps the most beautiful girl in Milford as your girlfriend! And yet, you can say that to me with complete honesty. You’re a good guy, Steve. Melanie was very lucky to have you when she did. At this point, you should probably be calling me Trudy and calling my husband Frank. You’re our friend.”
“Thanks, Trudy,” I said.
We finished our coffee, and I headed to Newtown to have lunch with my dad. He was coming straight from his office to the small diner on Wooster Pike where we were going to have lunch. He was there waiting when I pulled up.
“Been here long?” I asked.
“Two minutes, Son. You’re on time,” he said as we went in and sat in a booth.
We ordered the house special hamburgers, which were some of the best in Cincinnati, and a few minutes later, they were on plates in front of us.
“How are things going?” he asked.
“Good. School’s great. I should have straight A’s again, though calculus is getting tougher. My programming classes are almost boring at this point.”
“How are things at the apartment? Are you and Elyse doing OK?” he asked with a slight smile.
“Yes, Dad. We’re doing fine. And you can forget hiding that smile! We were involved before, but we aren’t now. I’m more or less exclusively dating a girl named Stephie from Georgia. And before you ask, yes, she knows about Kara and knows that Kara is moving in with me. And Kara knows about her!”
He chuckled, “You are still living a pretty complicated life.”
“Not even close to how it was before, but come on Dad, you didn’t marry until you were 45. I am more than willing to bet you had quite a few girlfriends.”
He chuckled again, “Well, yes, of course! My first one was a girl named Kristen. She was twenty-two, and I met her in New Hampshire when we went on vacation the Winter after I turned fifteen. We fooled around in her room at the lodge while my parents were out skiing.”
“You know, I don’t know much about your family. I never met any of them. With mom, of course, her family is here, and I even remember meeting great grandpa once before he died. I think I was two or so. But with you...”
“I was an only child of only children. My mom had one great aunt that I met, but otherwise, it was just me and my parents. Your grandfather was born in 1877 and your grandmother in 1885. I was born in 1917. We lived on Long Island and had a big house with about five acres of land. If your grandfather hadn’t sold it in the late 20s, just before the depression, and we had it today, it would be worth millions. I think it was broken up into twenty or so home sites just after World War II.
“You know I went to Dartmouth and when I graduated in 1939, I joined the Naval Reserve. My degree was in electrical engineering and I was working at NBC in the fledgling television division. In 1941 I was at the movies with some friends and when we came out, I heard that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and the next day I had a telegram ordering me to active duty. I ended up on destroyers running convoys across the Atlantic.
“Your grandparents were living in New York City at the time. They’d always kept a townhouse there for when they came into the city, but when they sold the property on Long Island, they moved into the townhouse permanently. Your grandfather produced movies privately — not stuff for Hollywood, but training films, documentaries for companies, that kind of thing. He traveled quite a bit and your grandmother would often go with him.
“In the late ‘40s, he was close to retiring, but was making one more movie for a company headquartered in Boston. He and your grandmother were flying as passengers on a small plane owned by that company. It crashed in central Massachusetts and they were both killed. I was out of the country when it happened, but flew back for their funeral. They left me the townhouse, which I sold, as well as some money that I later used to start my businesses.”
“What were you doing at the time?”
“Working as a consultant on electronics, especially TV, but radio and telephones as well. It kept me busy. I spent a lot of time in Europe and some in Cuba as well. That was when Batista was in charge, before Castro came to power. In 1961, I moved to Los Angeles and bought the coin laundry chain that you remember, and then some dry cleaners. I was in Las Vegas on vacation, visiting some friends I’d made in Cuba when I met your mom.”
“What was she doing there?”
“On vacation with some of her girlfriends. They were all secretaries at General Electric’s aircraft engine plant in Cincinnati. They took their two week vacation in Las Vegas. I met her at the start of the second week at the pool at the Dunes Hotel. We hit it off and you know what happened. A month later, she called me and told me that she was pregnant. I flew to Cincinnati at the end of August, proposed, and we got married in Los Angeles late in of November of ‘61. She had her miscarriage in January of ‘62. The baby was about six months along at that point, I guess. She almost lost Stephanie that way.”
“What?!” I said, shocked at the revelation.
“Your sister was born more than two months premature, in fact, almost three months. Back then, maybe one percent of those babies survived. Your sister did.”
“Holy shit!” I gasped. “I had no idea.”
“We didn’t tell you or Jeff, of course. You were four when she was born, so you weren’t really aware of that kind of stuff. Jeff was two. Anyway, after the miscarriage in January of ‘62, the doctor told us to wait four to six months before we tried to have another. You were born fifteen months after the miscarriage.”
“Do you have any pictures of your parents?” I asked.
“No, I don’t.”
“That’s too bad. But you filled in a lot of blanks for me, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it. I’d love to hear more about World War II if you want to talk about it.”
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October, 1981, Milford, Ohio “What do you want me to do?” I asked. “Oh no, you don’t! It’s not about what I want, it’s about what you want. And you have to be sure that what you say and what you do line up with what you want. Telling Kara you’ll get engaged to her next Summer but starting a relationship with a new girl in Chicago is hardly consistent! I’d say that qualifies as ‘misbehaving’ by any reasonable standard, AND so was sleeping with Elyse.” “OK, let me rephrase that. What’s your...
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June, 1982, Milford, Ohio “You know what? We need to eat something,” I said. “Let’s see your sister and your dad first, and then we can go out,” Kara replied, sounding very tired. We pulled into the driveway at my house and after I parked, we went inside. First, I went to find my dad and asked if he’d come talk to me and Kara privately. My mom glared at me but said nothing. It was cool and overcast, but not raining, so we went out on the deck. “Dad, I wanted to let you know that Kara and...
August 1982, Chicago, Illinois I woke early on Sunday morning after a good night’s sleep. I was pleasantly surprised to not find Elyse in my bed. I wasn’t sure what our relationship was going to be, and I wanted to talk to her before anything happened, rather than afterwards. I went out to run, though I really would have preferred a sauna to help clear my head and organize my thoughts. When I got back, Elyse had just started a pot of coffee and I went to the shower. When I finished and...
September 1981, Chicago, Illinois, and Milford, Ohio When Elyse arrived home she found me sitting in a beanbag chair drinking some of the bourbon that I’d had Joyce get for me. The wine was stashed in my room, though I left two bottles on the kitchen counter. “Uh oh! What’s wrong?” Elyse asked. “Just thinking,” I answered. “About Bethany?” “Yeah. It’s good, but it’s sad. She’s always depended a bit too much on me and now she’s moving on. We didn’t break up, per se, but she’s going to...
October 1981, Milford, Ohio Kara and I headed to Frisch’s for lunch. Our food arrived quickly, and we started eating. “A lot has happened in the last week,” I said. “Oh?” “Bethany has a steady boyfriend in Madison.” “Really? I had hoped something like that would happen, but I wasn’t counting on it. I always thought she was going to wait until you actually married before she did something like that. So she’s really moving on?” “That’s a good question. I would say that she’s recognized...
July 1982, Dawsonville, Georgia My drive south took me into Kentucky and I stopped for lunch at Wendy’s just after I passed through Lexington. As the countryside rolled past my windows, I reflected on the things that had happened recently. I hadn’t been keeping my journal as closely as I should have and resolved to spend some time alone at Stephie’s to put my thoughts on paper so I could put them in the computer when I got back to Chicago. I was a bit concerned about the situation between...
January, 1982, Chicago, Illinois On Monday, I woke up early to do my exercises and karate kata, then showered and made breakfast. Elyse showered while I exercised, and Stephie showered while I made breakfast. “You two had a good time yesterday!” Elyse whispered as I put the food on the table. “Yep!” I smirked. Stephie came out of my room and sat down at the table. The three of us ate and then Stephie and I headed to IIT. We stopped at her dorm so she could drop her overnight bag, then...
August 1982, Chicago, Illinois I woke up to the alarm on Monday morning, kissed Stephie, and quickly slipped on my running clothes and headed out. I took a slow, easy pace and worked to clear my mind and prepare to shift my focus to my schoolwork. The Summer had been a combination of fun, emotional highs, emotional lows, and adapting to the reality that Kara wasn’t going to be with me this year. On the other hand, I had Stephie, Elyse, Kurt, and Kathy close, and Kara was less than six hours...
July 1982, Chicago, Illinois On Sunday morning after breakfast, Kara packed her things, said goodbye to her mom, and followed me to my car. I drove to the Spencers’ to pick up my things, where I thanked Trudy and reminded her that I’d be back on Friday. Kara and I took my bags to the car, loaded them in the trunk, and set off for Chicago. As usual, the drive was uneventful. I had encountered neither traffic nor an accident, nor been pulled over a single time despite all the back-and-forth...
May 1982, Milford, Ohio On Monday morning, I followed my usual routine for being in Milford and had lunch with Trudy Spencer after our sauna. That afternoon, Krista and Beth were coming over to talk about business. Kara would join us as well. Beth arrived about 2:30pm and Krista and Kara walked over from the school campus and arrived about 2:45pm. The three of us were very happy with how things were going. We had a total of twenty-two veterinary clients paying a monthly support fee, about a...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Kara and I awoke, and she took a quick shower before we drove to my parents’ house so I could swim and have breakfast with Stephanie. My dad joined us for breakfast before he had to leave for work. After cleaning up the kitchen, we went to my old room to hang out with Stephanie for about an hour before heading back to the Spencers’. Nobody was home and there was a note on the fridge that said that Frank, Trudy, Pete, and Melanie were out for the day because Frank had...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Sandy came into my room and shut the door, shaking visibly. She leaned against the door and didn’t move further into the room. “Relax, Sandy,” I said gently, trying to ease her nerves as best I could. “Are we going to do it now?” she asked, her voice cracking with emotion. “No. We’re just going to talk,” I said. I could see visible relief. That confirmed to me that she was very nervous about doing this and I needed to be very cautious. “Talk about what?” “About...
October 1981, Chicago, Illinois I went to my room, closed the door and dialed my old number in Milford and Stephanie answered. “Hi, Stephanie!” “Hey, Big Bro! How’s Chicago?” “Pretty good. A lot of stuff is happening. But I have a favor to ask. Well, really, it’s a favor from Ed. I’m coming home this weekend and I was wondering if I could borrow the keys to the apartment.” “You and Kara? On Saturday? I’m sure the answer is yes. Where are you staying?” “I was going to call Mrs. Spencer...
February, 1982, Chicago, Illinois On Monday morning, while Stephie and I were driving to school, she asked what I was doing for Valentine’s Day. I let her know I was going to Ohio, but that I’d be happy to celebrate with her either on the 11th or the 16th, because I was taking the three-day weekend in Milford. “I guess that will have to do,” she sighed, “because it does make sense that you would be with Kara on Valentine’s Day.” “Are you going to be OK, Peaches?” I asked. “Do I have a...
December, 1981, Milford, Ohio As I drove to Kara’s house, I thought more about my conversation with Bethany. And the more I thought about, the more I realized that I had totally missed the signs. I had fallen in love with Kara without feeling the connection — in a sense, our kisses, and even our first lovemaking, didn’t feel different from many other girls I’d been with. But it was different. It was different because I loved her. And, eventually, we HAD felt the spark of the connection. We...
December, 1981, Milford, Ohio I pulled into the driveway at the Spencers’ and went inside. Melanie was halfway up the stairs and turned to say hello. “Want to spend some time in the sauna with me?” she asked. “Only if you promise to behave. I need to make a phone call first, and it may take a bit of time.” “I do. And I’ll wait. If you want privacy, use the extension in my room. I can read while you’re on the phone.” I nodded and walked up to her room and shut the door. It hadn’t changed...
November 1982, Milford, Ohio After dropping Elyse in Glen Este, I headed to the Spencers’ to drop off my stuff and then drove to Kara’s house. Kara hadn’t been clear about me staying every night at her house, so I didn’t want to assume. “Hi, Snuggle Bear!” she said when she opened the door. “Hi, Honey!” I said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her. “Do you need to get your stuff?” she asked. “I wasn’t sure from our last conversation which nights I could stay here, so I dropped my...
January 1982, Chicago, Illinois Bethany and Gene arrived just before 10:00am on Sunday morning. The apartment was full as both Warren and Stephie had spent the night, and Kurt and Kathy were staying the weekend. The plan was to have a big meal together around 3:00pm so that Gene and Bethany could get back to Madison before 10:00pm. Bethany was in great spirits and seemed very happy. I hadn’t had much chance to talk to her in the past few weeks because both of us were busy with school, and I...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Joyce, Kara, and I sat quietly on the lower bench while the steam built in the sauna. I was really going to miss the easy access to a sauna when I went back to Chicago. IIT had a steam room that I could use, but they required towels and it wasn’t ever quiet. It also wasn’t co-ed. “Joyce, I didn’t see Terry at your grandfather’s house yesterday,” I said after about five minutes of silence, other than the steam hissing and our breathing. “He’s sort of upset with...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were nearly identical — swimming and breakfast with Stephanie, spending the day with Kara, finding time for a sauna, and making love in the evening. I did end up sleeping alone on Saturday night because I took Kara home so she could go to church in the morning with her mom. She would drive to my house after church to help set up for the party, which was starting at 2:00pm and might even continue after fireworks, depending on how...
February/March, 1982, Chicago, Illinois I made good time on the drive back to Chicago despite the light drizzle that I ran into just south of Gary. I walked into the apartment to find Stephie and Elyse stretched out on the couch, each one leaning on an arm and their legs alternating so they could put them out straight. “You two look comfortable,” I said, taking off my shoes and coat and dropping my bag. “Hi, Steve,” Elyse said. “Hi, Steve,” Stephie echoed. Neither of them moved to get...
November, 1981, Chicago, Illinois “How are things going?” I asked. “Amazing!” Kathy said with a huge smile. “He’s just what I needed. Last night was the first time we could sleep in the same bed. Doing that with you was always my favorite thing!” “Oh, really?” I chuckled. “Actually, yes. You holding me in your arms while we slept was the most amazing feeling. Don’t get me wrong, the orgasms were out of this world, but feeling safe, secure, and loved; it’s the best thing there is. And I...
December 1981, Chicago, Illinois I really should have guessed that what Jennifer was saying was prompted by a girlfriend who saw me as a competitor, but I had to know if it was just Jocelyn, or if it was from Jennifer’s therapist as well. “And not your therapist?” I asked. “No. The reason Doctor Clauson didn’t want me to come is because she knows how I feel about you and that you’re in a serious relationship with Kara. She’s afraid that I’ll have a serious setback, or do something stupid...
April/May 1982, Chicago, Illinois I made very good time driving back to Chicago, assisted by the radar detector, and arrived at my apartment before 6:00pm Chicago time. As usual, Stephie and Elyse were sitting on the couch when I walked in. “Well, another fantasy up in smoke!” I teased. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Yankee!” Stephie exclaimed, getting up to hug me. “Did you have a good weekend?” “I did. How about the two of you?” “Same as always, though I didn’t have a date on...
August 1981, Chicago, Illinois We ended up not getting crazy that night. We made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. We woke up the next morning and repeated what looked like was going to be the pattern for the school year — I jogged and Elyse showered, I showered, and then we ate breakfast. “Bye, Honey! Have a good day,” she said again. I headed to IIT and after parking I walked into the Stuart Building for Computer Science 200. I’d been permitted to skip CS100 because I already...
September 1981, Milford, Ohio Friday was routine until lunchtime. Afternoon classes had been canceled for both Elyse and me because of the Labor Day weekend, so I drove back to the apartment instead of having lunch on campus. Elyse and I packed our overnight bags and waited for Kathy and Bethany, who arrived as planned, and we left Chicago just before 4:00pm. It was my goal to make the trip to Milford in just under five and a half hours, which I could do if we grabbed fast food on the way...
December, 1981, Milford, Ohio On Tuesday morning, I swam and ate breakfast with my little sister and hung out with her until it was time to head out to see Anna. I was still surprised that she’d called out of the blue, and was really curious as to what it was that she wanted. Even though I hadn’t driven to her house before, I’d been there enough times to remember how to get there. I parked in the driveway, then walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Anna opened the door almost...
December, 1981, Chicago, Illinois I made good time on my drive back to Chicago, arriving just before dinner. Other than one stop for gasoline and the restroom, I had driven straight through. When I pulled up in front of the apartment, I didn’t feel like cooking, so I parked, dropped my things inside, and then walked to the Chinese restaurant and got takeout. I took it back to my apartment, retrieved two weeks’ of mail from the mailbox, then went inside. I set the food on the table and sorted...
The Spring semester began on January 4th. Their course load was the same, except for David taking the Ministry/Leadership course instead of the standard religious education course. This was to help him better understand how to lead people; something he felt he needed to improve greatly. With the new semester, David and Meri both went out for Basketball. Meri made the JV team for the ladies, while David made the cut for Varsity in the men's team. Part of that was because Meri enjoyed playing,...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio It was getting close to the time that both Kara and I had to leave, and Kara was still crying softly as I held her in my arms. I simply held her tight and occasionally kissed her hair and whispered that I loved her in her ear. “Kara honey, are you going to be OK to have lunch with your mom? Do you need me to call off my lunch with Anna and stay with you?” She sniffed, “No. I need to pull myself together. Mom’s expecting me and I don’t want her to worry or be...
April 1982, Chicago, Illinois and Washington, DC Sunday evening, after dinner, I excused myself and called Joyce. I knew she’d have good advice for me, knowing the full situation. “Shit,” Joyce said, “That is really bad. Some of those guys don’t care about age. In fact, they want the teenagers because they attract clients and they can actually charge more. Grandfather absolutely forbids his guys from using girls who are under eighteen. One time he found out about a girl who was only...