How Garth and Judy Met
It was October 1st 1946,
me and four of my closest girlfriends decided to go Mardi Gra party after
mutual one night at the Social Center. As soon as I walked in, I made eye
contact with a young gentlemen across the room surrounded by all his friends. I
had only been there for a couple of minutes when I saw him make his way across
the room to me. All my friends and I stood there giggling. He came over and
before he even had introduced himself he asked if he could have this dance. I
thought, “Oh he’s cute..” as I looked him up and down. He was a fine young
gentleman and looked great in his brown suit and tie. I said yes without even a
second thought, I didn’t even know his name. I remember he was a horrible dancer,
stepping on my feet every time we turned. Despite my soon to be bruised feet,
he ended up being the only boy I danced with that night. We spent the slow
songs giggling and getting to know each other. He was quite the charmer. As he
was telling me all about himself, I could tell there was something about him;
something different then all the other boys I had dated. He was bold, he said
what was on his mind without even thinking twice about what I would think. This
was something new for me, most boys try to “edit” themselves as they are
telling you about themselves. Garth was not like that, as he was telling me
about himself, I thought to myself, “This is raw material.” He had just gotten
home from working the summer in Portland Oregon. After a couple of dances I
learned that it was also his 18th birthday!
The night went on and on like this until the very last dance, as the night was
nearing it’s end I was starting to wonder if I would never see him again. As I
started to look around the room for my friends, I couldn’t help but think that
I didn’t want this night to be over yet. After failing to find my friends in
the crowd I looked over at Garth who was still beside me. He gave me a small
peck on the cheek and took my hand and asked me if he could maybe walk me home.
I politely said yes, there was nothing I wanted more. It was a cold night
outside and the wind was blowing pretty hard. Garth gave me his coat as we made
our way home. I was staying with some girls that I was working with and I only
lived a couple blocks away from the Social Center. As we walked he put his arm
around me and pulled my close to help keep me warm. As we walked home we talked
about school and how fun the evening had been. The walk home was short and as
my house came into view I wondered if Garth had had enjoyed the evening as much
as I did. He walked me up my front porch to my door, as we stood there in
silence he gave me a hug and another kiss on the cheek. He asked me if he could
call tomorrow and I told him yes. We said our final goodbyes and I walked
inside. As I shut the door I leaned up against the door and breathed a deep
sigh. What a night. As I was getting ready for bed I told all of my girlfriends
about the whole evening. The ohed and ahed as I replayed the whole night over
for them We giggled for about an hour, then slowly as the rest of my friends
fell asleep, I stayed up. I could not fall asleep, I wondered why he had chose
me. Why out of all the girls at that dance that night he had chosen me to spend
the whole night with. That must mean he liked me.. didn’t it? I wondered if he
would call the next day, I hoped he would. But as the anxiety and self doubt
started to set in, I honestly did not believe he would. Right before I finally
drifted off to sleep, I replayed the whole night again in my head one last
time. It had been an amazing night.
When I woke up the next morning, I thought over the evening
before. He seemed like a dream. It seemed impossible to me that it had
happened. As I was getting ready for work I replayed the whole evening over and
over again in my head. He said he’d call. I hoped he would but I kept thinking
to myself that he wouldn’t. It had just been a one night thing, it would not go
any farther then that for us. I had programmed this in my mind by the time I
was ready to go to work. And right as I was about to walk out the door, the
phone rang. My heart skipped a couple of beats. My friend answered the phone
and smiled as the person on the other line spoke. She handed the phone to me
and said it’s for you. I took it from her and said “Hello, this is Judy.” As
soon as he spoke, I recognized his happy go lucky voice. “Hello Judy this is
Garth, would you like to go out tonight?” His upfront style was sort of a shock
to me, but I liked it. I quickly answered yes. He said “Great I will come and
pick you up tonight around 7.” We said our goodbyes and I hung up. My
girlfriends squealed like piglets as soon as I hung up. The rest of the day at
work was a blur, it dragged on for days, I could not wait to get home and for
it to be 7 o’clock
After work I went home and got all dolled
up to my fullest potential. My girlfriends helped me with my hair and I wore my
best dress. 7 o’clock came faster then expected and then next thing I knew
there was a knock on my front door. As he came inside I looked him up and down.
He looked very good, he was a very polished young man. I said goodbye to the
girls and we headed out for the night. As we walked out side I saw his model A
Coope sitting in my driveway, it was black. He opened up the passenger door for
me and I got in. We went and got dinner and then he told me he just wanted to
go on a drive. As we drove around town he held my hand in the middle of the car
seat and we just talked about everything under the sun. He had an addicting way
about him, as we talked I just wanted to know more and more about him. As the
night came to a close, I could feel myself falling for me. When he dropped me
off at my house, I wasn’t ready for the night to be over. He walked me up to my
front door and gave me a big hug, as he was pulling away he leaned back in and
kissed me. I was sort of in shock because I wasn’t expecting it at all. My eyes
were still closed as he pulled away, when I opened them up he had a crooked
little grin on his lips. He said goodbye to me as he made his way down my
steps.
Going on dates became routine for us in
the next couple weeks. We became inseparable. We spent every night driving
around town in his car or down at the lake, most of the time we just spent
talking. We could talk about anything, our conversations were so easy, nothing
was forced. We were complete opposites in every way, but it seemed to work for
us. He clashed most of the times but it never ended in a fight, we’d just laugh
at our differences.
A couple of months had passed and
Christmas coming near. Garth and I had become somewhat of an item. Not quite
official yet but everyone knew that we liked each other. Wherever I was, Garth
was guaranteed to be there by my side, and likewise with him also. Everything was
great, until one night about a week before Christmas we were on a drive and
Garth pulled over and turned off the car and told me we needed to talk. He took
my hand in his and told me had something to tell me that might make me mad. He
told me that when he was in Portland, he had had a girlfriend. He told me that
before he had promised her that she could come visit him for Christmas. He told
me that things were different back then, since it was before we had met. He
told me he was sorry and that if I really wanted him to he would tell her she
couldn’t come. My heart sank. I sat there for a couple minutes and thought over
what he had said. I felt like my heart was pounding in my throat, when I looked
up at him I didn’t know what to say. All I said was that it was fine that she
was coming and that I didn’t want him to tell her to not come. He asked if I
was sure and I simply replied yes and told him I was ready to go home. We drove
home in silence and as soon as we got home I didn’t wait for him to come around
and open my door I just got out and went inside. I went inside and slammed the
door. I was feeling a mix of complete and total anger and a slight ting of
sadness. What did this mean for us? What was going to happen between us? I went
and got into my bed and just wanted to forget the whole night all together.
Garth called the night day to apologize for the night before. I was very short
with him and told him it was fine and that I had to go help with lunch and then
I hung up. When Garth came over later that night we went on a walk. Not much
was said and none of the problem was resolved. We didn’t see each other in the
next week, I was too angry with him to see him face to face. Before I knew it
was Christmas here, I hadn’t heard from Garth in a couple of days and I feared
for the worst. I knew the girl had gotten into town the day before and I just
imagined their reunion in my head. I couldn’t get the thought of them being
together out of my head. There was nothing I wanted to do more then to get back
at him. There was plenty of boys who would love to court me now that I was
basically back on the market. Maybe if I did go out with one of the boys, maybe
we would run into Garth and the girl. Now that would certainly make Garth
jealous. But I couldn't ever bring myself to accept any of their offers. Garth
called my on Christmas and we just had a short conversation just long enough to
to wish each other a Merry Christmas and then we hung up. A couple days later
he called me and told me he would like for me to meet her. I was repulsed at
the thought but yet I still agreed I would. The next day he brought her into my
work. Garth walked in first and flashed me his smile I had grown so fond of in
the past months and in that tiny moment, it was almost as if the whole last
week hadn't even happened. But that only lasted about 3 seconds and then the
door opened again and SHE walked in. First of all, I can just say, she was
nothing like me at all. She walked in with the shortest white skirt on, and a
face full of make up. and I remember my heart sank even more when Garth
introduced me as his friend Judy. Friend? FRIEND? just a friend?
What about the last couple months? I knew we weren't an official item yet but
we were definitely more than friends. Or atleast that's what I thought.. Now I
wasn't sure. They only stayed for a few moments and then they left, and I
couldn't of been happiest to to see them go. After they left, my friend and
also the woman I worked for Mrs Nelson looked at my me and gave me a hug and
said, "he doesn't love her. He loves you, I could see it in his eyes the
whole time they were here, he couldn't keep his eyes off you." I
definitely had not noticed what she was talking about.. But I hoped he was
right.
I did not talk to Garth for the next
couple of days, it was about a week after Christmas when I had a gotten a call
from him saying she had left and he was wondering if I would like to go out to
dinner with him that evening. Who does this kid think he is? Does he think he
can pretend I don't exist for a week and then come crawling back to me as soon
as his temporary girlfriend left. Did he think I was gonna let him get away
with this? I was NOT that kind of girl... Or so I thought, but as he pleaded
with me to go with him I finally agreed.. That man was such a charmer.
Things slowly but surely got back to the
way they were before Christmas, minus a few fights here and there and him
reassuring my jealous was not needed. He assured me they were only friends now.
He told me she wasn't the right kind of girl for him anymore.
