L____

Bug had requested that her Mama write about old boyfriends.  I intend to write about only one:  Bobby L.  I have no way of knowing where life has taken Bobby...and I wouldn't cause him embarrassment for anything in the world.  Henceforth, the L____ for the title instead of his actual last name.  You'll just have to take my word for it that it started with an L.  As to why I chose him to write about, I believe by the end of the entry it will be clear to you.

It was Halloween, and Michele and I were in high school.  We were in togos and crusin' Silsbee.  Ended up down in Lumberton to see what might be going on there on Halloween.  It was there at the Sonic that we ran into Bobby.  In his letterman jacket and his Camero.  To show how times have changed, that muscle car got a whopping 8mpg. 

Michele and I spent the evening hanging with Bobby and his friend.  Numbers were exchanged and Bobby and I started dating.  In many ways Bobby was the All American Kid.  In some ways he bordered on wild.
He had a little baby bobcat he called Spud.  Spud would hang onto the padded steering wheel of Bobby's Camero and ride round and round.  And he had an old, old arthritic, grey haired chihuahua that was given to him when he was a baby.  He was a Senior in high school at this time...so you know that dog was long in the tooth.

He turned me on to a delicious treat.  Take a honey bun.  Warm it 30 seconds in the microwave on a plate.  Melt butter all over the top and eat with a fork. 

Me and some unnamed friends would often load up and go with or follow Bobby down to Beaumont.  He had an older friend there named Rod.  He lived in one of those older homes near downtown Beaumont.  He had something rigged up to make it seem that his stereo was controlled by friendly ghosts.  It was freaky.  The bad part was the guys would smoke marijuana.  Yeah, I tried it.  I didn't really care for it.

One night we got into some mild vandalism.  I guess you would call it that.  Sitting at Rod's.  Talking about ghosts.  Looking for a thrill.  We loaded up and went to an old abandoned two story house.  We didn't really have to break in....as there was an unsecured entrance.  Flashlights in that old empty house on a dark night.  We were already scaring ourselves silly.  There were abandoned wheelchairs in the home...made it seem even creepier.  At the time it only seemed like victimless fun.  But now, well it looks different to me. 

One evening Bobby asked me to come down.  Said we were going to eat steaks with his older brother and his wife, watch movies.  Sounded like a nice plan.  The dinner was good.  There were two toddlers running around.  I was not much of kid person at the time.  But they were no problem either.  Then things turned weird.  They put the first movie in.  It was porn!!  I had never watched porn and had no interest whatsoever in watching it.  But what really bristled my hair was that they were going to watch it with those children running around underfoot!!!  I told Bobby I had to go, and walked out.  He came running after me.  What's wrong?  Don't you see?!?!  I had no idea that was what they planned to watch, he said.  In front of their kids!! That's definitely not right.  Bobby said he understood and it was okay. 

That's when I knew I had to rethink what I was getting caught up in.  Everyone I had ever been around had, had similar values to me up until then.  What a crisis!  We cooled it a while.  Then Bobby came to Silsbee one night and flagged me down.  I got in his Camero, but soon discovered he had weed in there and ordered him to take me back to my Capri.  He did.  We talked.  He claimed he never had done any drugs at all until he had been injured in football.  Said a coach had hooked him up with pills to kill the pain so he could keep playing.  That smoking dope was a step down from where he had been.  I told him that was no life or future either.  That if he wanted to hang with me, it'd have to go.

In subsequent conversations he told me of a girl who had moved away.  Pregnant with what was supposed to be his child.  Showed me a worn picture in his wallet.  He expressed deep longing to one day have a connection to his child.  I sincerely wished him the best, that that would happen one day for him.

Bobby graduated and joined the military.  I saw a picture of him in his dress uniform.  Handsome.

I later graduated and went off to college.  Contact with Bobby was severed.  Or so I thought.  One weekend I was home for the weekend.  Mama said some boy had called in the past week.  Said he'd try again on the weekend.  Imagine my surprise when the call came in and it was Bobby.  He was so excited to talk to me.  He almost cried as he related to me how he had cleaned up his act in the military!  How he had found the girl who was the mother of his child!  How he had a place in the child's life!  I believe marriage with the mother was in the plans.

I was genuinely thrilled for him!  And surprised and honored he thought enough of me to call and relay these turn of events to me.  And then he told me how MY standing up for what I thought was right had influenced him and made him want to do better.

My point to both of you in this story is that you never know how much influence you have on a life.  What it may mean down the road.  It wasn't easy to stand up for what I felt in my core when there was a cute, funny, warm football player involved and I was just a teen. 

In later years, I came to know that it was the Holy Spirit who was jealousy guarding me that helped me to do that.  Even though I had yet to have a real, personal relationship with Christ.  Makes me really wonder what other stories might await me in Heaven.

And Bobby, wherever you are, I wish you all the best.  You gave me a gift unlike any I received since.  Thank you!