The Boys Next Door

Whenever I visited my cousin in Toledo as a teenager I was introduced to new things.  Being a country girl and the baby of the family I was shelter from a lot of—ah, shall we say more worldly things.  My cousin as an only child with a widowed mother knew much more about the harsh realities of the world.
 Thus, it was shocking to me when she blithely told me about and introduced me to her new boyfriend and his roommates—all of which conveniently lived in the apartment next door.  I already knew one of them as he was a former boyfriend of hers.  He was a dark and rough individual that I wasn’t particularly fond of.  Her new beau on the other hand was polite, kind, gentle and homosexual.  His family had disowned him when “treatment” did not change him.  To my knowledge I’d never met anyone of that persuasion before and was surprised at how “normal” he seemed.  There was the resident geek who preferred his own company and books to socializing with us, so I only saw him briefly.  But all of them faded into the woodwork when the “adult” of the group walked in.  He was without a doubt one of the most gorgeous hunks I’d ever met at that point in my life and a musician to boot.  On a set of household pans he played and sang the Monster Mash to the delight of all.  Personally I was more than a little flattered that he openly flirted with me the whole time.  I was disappointed that my cousin quickly let him know I was “off limits” to him.  Later I would learn from my cousin the reasons for her quick intervention and was grateful to her. Still whenever I hear this song I remember that motley crew fondly and laughing recall that “monsters’ come in all forms.