Just a short anecdote today.  Not sure if I’ll use it in the book.

My first serious girlfriend was Lynn, whom I met when we were starting our sophomore year in high school.  She was funny, personable, attractive, intelligent, and Jewish.   I’m not sure I had ever known a Jewish person before her.  I think she was somehow related to the Levi-Strauss branch of reality, although she and her two sisters and mom (who was divorced and a single mother) were not rich.  But they were pretty much like me and my family, middle class and doing fine.

I don’t recall that we ever talked about religion, and looking back I suppose it’s a bit surprising.   They certainly weren’t observant Jews and my uninformed sense is that they were completely secular.  I don’t know if they went to synagogue or kept any of the holidays, but I kind-a doubt it.  In any event, at that point in my life religion wasn’t really my main concern when it came to a girlfriend.

We were a hot item for months, and then at the end of my sophomore year, disaster struck.  Her mom got a new job in Topeka, which was only about 20 miles away but seemed like light years.  I got along great with her mom, but she (the mom) was quite firm that with the move, it would make better sense for us not still to be “going together,” as we used to do in those days.   So that was that.

FOR THE REST OF THIS POST, log in as a Member. Click here for membership options. If you don’t belong yet, JOIN!!