1980 - 1982
It's been a couple of days so I suppose it is high time for me to venture into the 1980's. I was a high school sophomore at the beginning of this decade. Overall, I was having fun in high school. I certainly wasn't one of the popular kids but I had a pretty close group of around 10 friends who stuck together. Several of us were in band (trumpet and later French horn for me) and/or chorus and some of the more academic clubs like Future Teachers of America, Yearbook, the school newspaper, stuff like that. None of us were very athletic and for some of us, even gym class was a semi-nightmare. I was 5'9" by the time I was in 6th grade and the basketball coaches were certain they had a future star on their hands. Until they saw me on the court that is. Genetically I am not blessed with a great deal of natural coordination and after growing several inches in the span of a couple of years, I had zippo control over my adult-size frame and long, thin arms and legs. Plus, I was scared of the ball. Basketballs, softballs, volleyballs. All of my high school friends are so surprised now that my daughters are involved in (and do really well at) a variety of sports. I sucked that bad. My 10 1/2 year old is now a pitcher for her ASA softball team. Guess what. I'm still scared of the ball and cannot catch for her. My 8 year old can catch for her, but I can't. Maybe I could catch for her if I could wear full catcher's gear, but lacking that, I don't even really try. My kids all have a lot of fun with that.
Other than gym class, I got decent grades. Math and science were more difficult but I loved English and all forms of Social Studies. I took an "F" (my only one ever) in gym one semester because I refused to get dressed and participate in the gymnastics unit. I have never, ever been able to do even a forward somersault and by about 10th grade, I finally got smart enough to realize no one could force me on that mat only to make a complete fool of myself. Good move on my part, I believe.
Nineteen days into 1980 I was also sexually molested. I was the pianist for the little church my mom and I (and sometimes dad) went to and he was a 40-something soloist. At the time I didn't even recognize it as sexual assault. When I eventually did, I became angry at myself and my parents for even putting me in a position where I went to his house alone to "practice". I had gone willingly and once again, though not MR, mom was lower functioning and because he was a "grown up church man" I guess she didn't think of the danger she was allowing me to walk into. She died not knowing about the assault that was my first sexual experience. I didn't date at all in high school because most of my classmates were those same boys that terrorized me earlier and so my first reaction was, "hey, a guy finally likes me!". Though always equipped with an over-active anxiety gene, this event seems to have kicked it into gear although it wasn't until a few years later that it would really manifest itself. As long as I was snug in my routine, my academics, with my friends, I was pretty well put together. Moving on to college would be another story.
