Junior prom March 8, 1969


~Suggested music listening in my songlist: The Windmills Of Your Mind by Dusty Springfield (1968)~

In the spring of 1969 I attended my very first "official" prom (I had attended other formals). It was the junior prom at De La Salle High School, the local Christian Brothers private high school. I asked a girl from Carondelet High School, the catholic "all girls" private school across the street. She was a sophomore girl named Kathy who I had a big crush on. It wasn't a crush because she was a really cute girl (although she was cute), it was a crush because she was so fun and energetic. She had a great smile and never said a bad word about anyone or anything. As a matter of fact, everyone liked her and she was so fun to be around. The evening of the junior prom was absolutely amazing. We doubled dated with Mark and Lisa. They were a really fun couple and Mark was a really good and everyday friend of mine. Lisa had a crush on Mark. I was able to use my parents 1964 Buick convertible for the evening. It was a sleek and long car, perfect for a double date. I had the responsibility of obtaining adult beverages for the evening so of course I got a big bottle of champagne, what else? Nothing but the best. I picked Kathy up and she was just so damn cute in her prom dress. She was so proud of her "beauty parlor" hair which was up in some sort of bee hive or something. We picked up Lisa and ventured to the Oakland estuary for a bay view dinner at a seafood restaurant named after a famous Navy submarine. The girls and Mark had a great time. I did too! Next we went back to Walnut Creek to enjoy the prom evening. I looked forward to many slow dances and lots of laughs. I had proclaimed early at the start of the evening that the champagne had to be consumed when we were parked at the prom. No drinking and driving! So that's exactly what we did. I parked and popped the bottle open. I can't remember whether we had glasses or not but heck, would we care at that age? The bottle was finished in no time and we were giggling away our cares. We walked up to the prom building and as we walked up a flight of stairs to enter the prom, I was amazed that all the girls were dressed so elegant. I hate to say it but the guys looked outstanding too. Here we were all dressed up like the parties our parents went to, I was so amazed. The evening went without a hitch and Kathy and I danced every dance, all evening. I got lucky, she danced pretty close in those slow dances. I must say that I will never forget that evening, it was so Cinderella like and I spent my first prom with three very amazing people who made life perfect. On May 16th of this year Kathy left this earth from natural causes at the tender age of 54. Although I haven't seen Kathy in 38 years, she has touched my soul forever. Mark ventured to the other side in the early seventies from a tragic motorcycle accident. This was a total shock to me. I never stop thinking of his life and his inner beauty. Mark has touched my soul forever. Mark and Kathy are gone now but the memories and the story will live on. Long live the good people! The picture above is the prom photo of Kathy and I.