Wistful Wednesday: “The Kiss”

I have a few things to say today about my Father In Law, Marvin..Far Guys Dad.  He was a wonderful man with a great sense of humor, I learned many things from him over the years.  He died in 1994 at the age of 80.

It is hard to think of him as a young man..but we have the photos to prove it.

This is one of those old photomat photos..he was quite dashing with the collar on his jacket all turned up…and he had hair!

He first met Far Guys Mom on the high school bus.  ( He would marry her when he was 26 years old)  However he did have other girlfriends. There was this photo that Marvin’s Mother included in his photo album, she must have saved a few things from his high school days..

This was one of them..Margaret a cousin of Far Guys Mom’s..he had another girlfriend named Jessie..Far Guys Mom used to tease him about her…invariably the story of “the Kiss” would come up sometime during the conversation about his old girlfriends.

Marvin went to High School with a young lady by the name of Jeanette B.  She would go on to become a Social Studies teacher and teach many children in Junior High including Far Guy and I.  She was a spinster, she never married.  She must have grayed early in life, her gray hair was always curled “just so” in tiny individual ringlets pulled away from her face..she was always dressed perfectly..I remember her in wool suits with a skirt that was properly cut to mid calf, with a ruffled long sleeved blouse that matched..with a brooch at the neck. Her hands and face were uncovered, and a small section of her lower leg..before they disappeared into proper black old lady shoes.

Back to the early 1930’s..teenage boys will be boys..when an entire class is involved in practicing for a class play and the lights just “happen” to go out plunging the whole stage area in darkness and someone just “happens” to kiss Jeanette whilst the lights are out and she faints..now that is a story that shouldn’t be lost.  I never found out who did the dreadful kissing in the dark..but I have a really good idea.

If I have told this story before I apologize..my daughter Jennifer will tell me..she remembers everything.  I guess I should work on a Wistful Wednesday Table of Contents or something:)