Stories From Under A Bootheel (Rants, Laughs, and Tears)

Chapter 4 First Kiss Part 2. Secret Admirer

Church camp was filled with clever games to get everyone to interact with each other while teaching valuable lessons. If you ever were caught putting your elbows on the table while eating in the dining hall, the entire room would break out in singing, "Get your elbows off the table Charley Farley (or the current offenders name), get your elbows off the table Charley Farley. We have seen you do it twice and it isn't very nice; so, get your elbows off the table Charley Farley." It was not intended to ridicule the offender, but rather to introduce him to all the other campers in a fun and amusing way; everyone was caught at least once. People often offended on purpose just to get everyone singing their name. It did puzzle me that elbows on the table was considered a worse offense than singing at the table.

There were also games to encourage interactions between the sexes. Nothing like "spin the bottle" or "truth or dare" mind you. Nothing that could potentially embarrass or make anyone uncomfortable. My favorite game was "secret admirer."

"Secret Admirer," was a very clever game to encourage positive interactions between campers. Every camper had to play and the game went on until each admirer was identified. The game began with the counselors selecting for each camper another camper to be their secret admirer. They would inform each camper who they were to admire. During the week each camper would leave clues for the one they secretly admired. The clues were typically anonymous messages stating positive things about what you admired about that person and possibly additional clues about your own identity. Thus, all through the week each camper was receiving ego bolstering messages and clues to the mystery of who their admirer was. The game required you find out as much as you could about the other campers. Ultimately this would lead to you building a positive relationship with at least two other campers, your admirer and the one you were admiring.

There were at least three girls at camp that I had a crush on and even though I hadn't told anyone, I suspected my sister knew who they were. Even with strangers, I'm not much of a poker player and my sister had been playing poker with me my entire life and she always won.

I suspected it was no coincidence then, that probably thanks to my sister, I was selected as the admirer of Connie Rachel Lewis the girl I was most interested in and that her friend Cathy who was one of the other three I had a crush on was selected as my secret admirer.

Connie was from Marianna, Arkansas just south of Memphis Tennessee. She was petite, sweet, playful and cheerful, more cute than glamorous, more wholesome than sensuous. Definitely my type. Cathy was also cheerful, outspoken and down to earth. Also, my type. Let's face it if a girl had a female form, and a playful disposition, she was my type.

"Secret Admirer," was the perfect game for bringing people together and especially for me. I enjoy creating and solving puzzles and this game required I do both. I left the typical messages flattering the object of my admiration concerning her looks and personality. I should have paid closer attention to her intelligence, because now that and the kiss is what I will always remember about her. Unfortunately, what she will always remember about me, no doubt, is my ego which she very cleverly set a trap for.

As I have mentioned before, I was very full of myself and would take every opportunity to show off my intelligence. In my final secret admirer message to her, I wrote, "I love you" in French, Spanish, and Latin. I thought it a very clever way to express my feelings toward her. Yeah, way over the top, but that pretty much describes the emotions of middle schoolers.

The next day at lunch, Connie casually asked me, "How did you learn so many different languages?"

We had not been discussing languages; so, I should have wondered what prompted this question. But my ego would not pass up a chance to show off; so, without thinking, I replied, "My mother taught me French, my sister taught me Spanish and my aunt taught me Latin."

Connie got the biggest smile on her face. I had just revealed who her secret admirer was! And I was more in love than ever. There is nothing I admire more than intelligence and this girl had certainly outsmarted me. From then on Connie and I spent most of our free time together. There was no more secret to my admiration.