I’m not sure where I spent New Years Eve as we transitioned into 1991, but it most certainly was either with family or friends. What I do know is that I was not with Christi as she was spending the remainder of the holidays in Arkansas with her family. Often we had a nice family gathering over at Grandma and Grandpa’s apartment on New Years Day, but I can’t be certain. I do know that on New Years Day, I spent some time creating a mix tape for Christi to give to her when she returned. I also composed a letter to accompany the tape which was entitled “Our Songs 2.” Basically, it contained songs to trigger our memories of certain events of 1990.
For instance, songs from the soundtrack of Hair that we listened to and sang repeatedly during the Summer, the song “The Day Jim Henson Died” by local band Liquid Drano (which included some of our friends) to commemorate the concert we saw them perfrom at Henley Hall, the song “Air” that we would sing to Ashleigh to get her to stop crying, and “Forever” to remember the KISS concert we saw together.
These photos were taken at Marion’s at a family get-together in 1991, possibly for Grandma Murphy’s birthday in February. In the top photo are Denise, me, Grandma, and Susan holding baby Zac (making a lewd nose gesture). In the bottom photo are me, Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, and Bob.
Our relationship had recovered somewhat at this point but we were still on rather rocky ground. After her return from Arkansas, she naturally returned back to her senior year of high school and I to my second semester at Wright State. This was perhaps my least memorable quarter ever.
I can scarcely remember a single thing about any of the classes, save bowling. But I did okay as far as grades went. I got an A in Economic Life (3 credits), a B in Western World History (3 credits), a B in Psychology: The Science of Behavior II (4 credits), and a B in Theatre: Western Culture (3 credits). I passed my bowling class, which was only memorable because I became friends with fellow bowler Jody Wolf, a drop-dead gorgeous gal that I had went to high school with and wouldn’t have even dreamed of speaking to. I still see her occasionally at the vet’s office that her Dad runs. That’s where my cats have always gone.
At this point Ashleigh and Christi were still living with Christi’s parents Joy and Bob in Beavercreek. Christi’s cousin Jennifer was living there as well and helping to babysit Ashleigh while we were in school. Ashleigh began taking her first steps and spouting her first words early in the year. Everyone agreed she was one smart cookie.
Some of the nonsense had abated with the boys that Jennifer and Christi would sometimes hang out with, but a new fleet soon took their place. Jennifer began dating a guy I knew from high school named Seakay, and soon his pesky friends Steve and Jeff were hanging out and annoying the piss out of me. It wasn’t long before we began heading down that ugly road again.
I was working as a bagger at the Beavercreek Kroger, and really beginning to form some friendships with my co-workers after the Christmas party of 1990 ‘brought us together’ so to speak. We would often get together with Jon Petering and the Dearwesters on Sunday afternoons to watch football all day. I was rapidly becoming one of the ‘favorites’ on the front end, and would get special assignments like creating the lot schedules – which I could make while I smoked in the breakroom. Kim Leffew was my front-end manager, and Dee Ann Booher and Ronna Branham were the assistants. The store managers were Clint Rose and Terry Stigler (who eventually married each other later on).
My hobbies were still centering around music, as I continued to complete my collection of Depeche Mode CD’s and began delving further into Erasure. I had 177 CD’s in my collection going into 1991. The first disc I picked up that year was You and Me Both by Yaz – a band that former DM and Erasure member Vince Clarke had briefly formed. The new Queensryche album Empire and the Morrissey disc Kill Uncle came out early in the year and received endless play in my Winterset bedroom.
Autograph collecting had taken a back seat at this point in my life. But I had picked up a couple of Our Gang Velentine photos which I had Dorothy deBorba sign at the Clearwater convention the previous summer. Bob had gotten Butch to add his signature also and I pulled them out and gave them to Christi and Ashleigh for Valentines Day.
My card to Ashleigh for her first Valentines Day
I was coasting along at this point in my life. I had no real plans for the future. I hoped to make things work with Christi, but surrounding circumstances were putting numerous obstacles in the way. I was virtually working full-time while attending school, so I did well considering – but school was barely holding my interest. About six months would go on like this before big changes would come and begin to spin my life on its axis.
Up next: Ashleigh turns one…
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