A Lifetime of Crushes

I've been tagged by Beth to reveal my girlhood crushes. What better way to spend Thanksgiving morning, since I don't have to do any of that nasty cooking business. I should warn you though, my stories will probably be much less funny than Beth's.

Since she started with celebrity crushes, I think I will too. Being born in the mid-70s, I was ripe for the picking when it came to guys like Michael Jackson and Kirk Cameron, both of whom I had foam board posters of in my room. Although I should probably not admit it to the internet at large, I was one of the many junior high girls obsessed with the New Kids on the Block. In my defense though, I never did see them in concert.

As a segway into real life, my most respectable celebrity crush from my youth was that of Robert Redford. I recall a rather embarrassing moment when I emphatically told my father that there were only two handsome men on the planet, Robert Redford and Russell K., because of his resemblance to RR. The embarrassing part was that Russell was the husband of one of my father's co-workers and a member of the Killer Frogs softball team that my parents played on. So of course, my father promptly told him! It still makes me squirm when I see him to this day (only mildly because really, it's kinda cute).

As for the boys...

There was Matt H. from day camp the summer after 4th or 5th grade, someone that also ended up playing on the Killer Frogs. Dang, this really is a small town sometimes!

There was Dave from day camp the summer after 7th grade. He was a big Oakland Athletics fan. That was the first time my father saw that his loyal Dodger's daughter could be swayed by some interloper. To this day, he assumes that my interest in any sport must be linked to a crush on one of the male players or one of the male fans.

In junior high I had a crush on Josh K (just joshin', as my friends used to say). He had one of those ridiculous flat-topped, spiked hair cuts, the really tall kind. Fortunately, that was gone by the time I hooked up with him in Boston, our first semester of college. I've not seen him since, but I've heard that Boston worked out even less well for him than it did for me.

The biggest crush of my life happened my junior year in high school. I was a big nerd who barely even knew I existed. I really thought no one could see me. So when I saw This! Boy! I just stared and stared every time I saw him in the hall or the lunchroom. Matt M. was the cutest boy in school and popular and a senior. He was also my first kiss. I think it would be safe to say that if I were to see him again he'd still probably make me weak in the knees and make my stomach do flips.

For the tagging portion of the program, I'd like to read about the crushes of a lifetime from Sara, Mary, Casey, and Repressed Librarian. Will anyone play?