Friday, June 05, 2009


High School Graduation. 1981. I was 17.

Thanks to Judi Q.G. for sending me the photo. Judi, Amy and I were roommates sophomore year. Then I moved into a "trouble triple" for two years, down the hall. Lordy be we had some fun. Think college but you're in high school. And yet, we were never untoward.

We were respectful of our own bodies and our friends lives. We were cautious to the extent teens can be cautious. We studied hard, followed most of the rules and went to good colleges, from which we graduated in four years, not five or six. We had real boyfriends, and yes, some of us were sexually active. But we loved these boys and were not promiscious. There was no such thing as "friends with benefits."
We respected our parents and followed the rules of our homes. We used payphones to make calls and made collect calls to Mom and Dad. We typed our papers on onion skin. White out was our friend.

Some of us came from wealthy families. Some did not. My folks were comfortable but by no means wealthy.
If you have teens, I hope they can have all of the advantages my parents gave me and forge friendships that last a lifetime, like I have.

2 comments:

Kim said...

Good golly woman -- you have not aged a day!!!

Kim Rossi Stagliano said...

You wanna bet? I look the same but I surely have aged. Trust me. Thanks though. It's nice to know the young Kim is still inside the older Kim. I miss her sometimes, she was a lot of fun. That's why it's so important to me to keep in touch with my HS friends - they KNEW me. They know how I was and that I laughed and danced and had a fun career and all of those things. My Dad is in touch with his HS sweetheart - and so is my Mom. I love that they also have people who remember their youth. It's a really important tie to me.