Kindergarten Incidents
part 2
The Huckleberry Hound Record
One segment of kindergarten that I remember well was the time each week when we got to bring in a record for the class to listen to. As I’ve said before, other than Boxcar Willie and Gene Autrey, there were no records other than gospel stuff at my grandparents house.
My cousin Janet gave me one album of a two album set of a Huckleberry Hound story. I couldn’t listen to it at home, so I took it to school so that I could finally hear it. The only problem was that it was a 45, not a regualr album, and the record player in our class didn’t have an adpator. So after all of my excitement, I was embarrassed when it was announced that my record was “no good”.
I finally got an attachment and listened to that record when I was 12 years old or so. Quite a disappointment then, too.
Michelle
I met the girl who would be a great friend, until the 10th grade, while in kindergarten. She was a tiny little thing with wavy blonde hair and green eyes. We had the same middle name and she used that instead of her first name.
As I said, Michelle was tiny. She was really short, even by kinergarten standards. Compared to me, 4′ 5″ at the time, she was even shorter. This was a running gag for years. She used this to her advantage, though, and I became the intimidator. I just hung around with her and people would leave her alone.
Michelle was at my table the day of the “purple leaf” incident and encouraged my artistic flair from that point on. She liked doodling, too, so we had that in common. We played together during recess and after the handcuffs episode, Jason started chasing her … well, until the intimidator appeared. He steered clear of both of us after that.
Eric Sails
He was a pudgy little guy, but I was instantly smitten. Most of the boys in our class were gross and picked their noses and such, but Eric was a dreamboat. He had black hair and blue eyes and captured my affection until the eight grade.
Eric and Michelle were both in the first reading group in our class. The three of us got awards at the end of the year and were in the Ronald McDonald book club. I was a geek from the get go …
