Tammi's World

It was the summer I turned 16

It's amazing. Someone can post a story and WHAM you're a million miles and many years away.

Go over and read this post at AW's. Then come back over hear and I'll share MY story.

It's a very small world. AW and I are not exactly the same age. She grew up in Nebraska, me in Northern Indiana. The summer she was 16 I was married and playing Mom. Still - she is exactly describing my 16th summer.

I detasseld corn. Hated it, but I did it. It was considered a rite of passage. Mama said it built character. Damn, maybe that's what went wrong.

I worked at Bonanaza. Started out cashiering, ended up knowing every inch of that resturant. Open, Closing, peak hours. Didn't matter. I could do anything they needed me to.

But oh, the Tammi Time. Driving to my friend's house to pick her up and head to the lake. My Ponitac Ventura, bought by my own sweat and blood. Spending every minute at the lake. Tanned and toned. Sippin' beer or Mt. Dew during the day. Slippin' on our party clothes and pickin' up Mr Beam or some gin for those hot summer nights.

Nothing was more important that what we were going to do that night after work. What party? Whose car were we taking?

Now, the only thing that was different for me was I didn't date. My nickname was Ms. Webster and I took a lot of slack because I planned on going to college. You didn't do that in the crowd I ran with. You took a job at one of the local factories. You married whoever you were with when you graduated and you had babies. Period.

Oh, and I was tall. And shy. Yeah, no dating for me. But lots of crushes.

Skinny dippin'. That memory makes me laugh. There is a certain political candidate whose family owned a home on a pond near where we ran around. I lost count of how many times I had a police "escort" removing me from that property. If he's elected President, maybe I should drop him a line, he might just remember me. :-)

Cruisin'. Oh we loved cruisin'. Sittin' in the parking lot at Ben Franklin's. Drinkin' our Beam and Coke, music blarin', talkin' smack. Got in my first fight in that parking lot. A girl called my best friend a whore. She was, but no one was gonna say it out loud in front of me. Yeah, she never did that again. Still won't talk to me and it's been almost 30 years.

My 16th summer changed my life. Before that I was in church 3 or 4 times a week, and hardly ever cursed. I sang on the revival circuit for our church. I was what you would call a Good Girl.

That summer? I found attitude. I found freedom. I found more than my share of trouble, and the luck that keeps a young girl out of even more. It was a summer of friendships and pranks. Broken hearts and dreams. Comin' home as the sun was comin' up and never missing a beat.

AW asks if we remember. Yeah, yeah I do. Thank you for asking.

Posted by Tammi at December 15, 2006 05:36 AM | TrackBack