Joey

Monday, August 4, 1980

Dear diary, when me and [childhood friend] woke up we watched T.V. Then we ate breakfast and worked on our pot holders again. When we got done with that we took a walk up to the school and played a while. When we got back we looked at my Valentines. We found one that looked like it came from Joey my boyfriend. Then we went to the library and saw some movies. We took [childhood friend] home and we ate supper, watched T.V. got ready for bed and went to bed.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Remember me? Yes, it's been a LONG while since I've written a post on this blog. I wonder how long it will take before anyone notices...? We'll see. I may be writing to myself. And that's just fine. Good therapy.

So I've been pretty particular about keeping the names in my childhood annonymous - up until this time. I actually thought about not sharing Joey's name, but hey, how many Joey's are there in the world? On the other hand, the [childhood friend] I mentioned has a much less common name, so I'll continue to keep her annonymous.

So who was this Joey kid? Well, according to this diary entry, he was my boyfriend. In reality? He was a cute little boy that I liked. And I think he liked me too, so naturally, in a 9-year old's mind, that must mean that we're boyfriend/girlfriend, right?! I remember him vividly. Even saw him at a high school reunion several years ago. Then we actually wrote a couple letters even after that. But sadly, we have lost touch once again.

Some people may think that it's dangerous to drum up old relationships like that - if you can even call what we had a "relationship"! Joey and I never shared more than a few innocent notes... you know, the "I love you, do you? Circle yes or no. Monday, meet me by the monkey bars, okay?" Sound familiar? I assure you, those were the exact words written on his note. Here it is, almost 30 years later and I still remember it verbatim.

Joey is no threat to my current relationship status. Neither are any of the other boys that I had temporary crushes on. But all of them are special to me in one way or another. They helped form who I am today. They helped teach me what to look for in my future husband. Oh, and believe me, back then I thought I was going to marry every single one of them! I guess that's typical for a little girl, though. I wouldn't know anymore since I'll be dealing with vast amounts of testosterone around here in a couple years. But my oldest is almost 11 and seemingly has no interest in girls what-so-ever... yet. Wonder when that will change. Someday he'll meet a girl who can out-build him in legos. Then the world will simply stop turning, I'm sure.

In any case, it was nice to hear Joey's name again. It's nice to travel back in my mind to where life's problems were more simple. To see it again through my young, innocent eyes. I was very young when I married my husband. And I only knew him for 6 months when we said our vows. But here we are, over 16 years later... and I still have a crush on him.

Sorry, Joey.