Hey Little Girl

When you're a sheltered thirteen year old from the country all big cities are overwhelming. Toledo was no exception. It was my first visit to my aunt's on my own. It was Easter vacation, as they called back then, so my cousin--only a year and a half older than me--and I were on our own during the day while my aunt worked. My cousin, in my opinion, was totally worldly as well as being skinny and much cuter than me. My first day there she had to teach me about looking back when someone whistled. At home we always did to see who was trying to get our attention. Two young girls alone on city streets never did. All of that gives you an idea of how scared I was that none of her friends would even notice me at the party she planned for me, let alone like me.

Her boyfriend at the time arrived first and was cordial but hardly interested in more than a perfunctiory hello and how are you. Several more of her crowd arrived and it was pretty much as I had feared. They were enjoying the party and was huddled in my aunt's overstuffed chair looking on. Then their was a new arrival and the moment he came into view I was mesmerized. He was good looking with sandy blond hair and sparkling blue eyes, easily the cutest guy there. I was sure he would never notice me, but before my cousin could even introduce us, he was introducing himself. From that moment it was as if no one else was there except the two of us. He asked questions and actually listened to my answers. He told me all about himself without boasting or bragging. Finally, at his suggestion we escaped to the back porch where we could talk without the commotion of the party interfering. It was there in a moment of silence between us that the music from inside softly reached us. The dong was The Old Lamplighter by The Browns, which I already loved for its melody and the romantic lyrics. It quickly became my favorite though as he took my hand and sang it to me. For the rest of my visit we were inseparable.

As with most young love, especially when separated by a hundred miles at a time when it might as well have been a thousand, we eventually separated, but the song will be forever ours in my treasured memories.