Sunday Scribblings prompt: Crush
I had a crush on a boy named Ryan when I was 11 years old. He was a year older than me and we went to the same church. His voice was changing and it cracked horribly, but I didn’t care. At the time, he was slightly shorter than me. (I reached my current height, 5′9″, by the time I was 11 or 12, and then stopped growing. It took the guys a few years to catch up.)
Not long after I realized my crush, we had a Christmas play at church and I was cast as Ryan’s wife. Boy, was I happy—even though I only had to speak a line or two, and it wasn’t like Ryan and I ever had private time together to practice our lines. (Which was probably just as well. If I’d been forced to talk to him one-on-one I would have been horribly tongue-tied and capable of babbling only semi-coherent sentences at best.) But I did get to stand next to him on stage, and I got to call him “husband.” That was fun. I could at least make-believe.
At some point somebody did tell him that I liked him (supposed female “friends” find this a hard-to-keep secret), but he never acted on it. A few years later, this was the same boy who started going out with my nemesis. Not that I can really blame him, since at the time of my initial crush I looked like this:
I have a picture with him in it, although you can’t see his face very well. This was taken a few years later, when I was 13 and a group of us sang in front of the church. I’m in the back row, far right (with the red shawl), and Ryan is in the middle row, far left.
I wonder what happened to old Ryan? (A Google search didn’t help. He has the same last name as someone who is more well-known.)
13 Comments
That reminded me of a very similar story, especially the 5′9″ part, because I had the same problem at age 12! LOL
do you know what school he went to? if so, you could try classmates.com — it’s free to just look and see who has signed up.
Hee hee- I think you’re adorable- sometimes guys just don’t get it…
Wow – that reminds me of being that age too – I was 5′9″ by the time I entered 6th grade, and I was exceedingly skinny, complete with buck teeth, braces and headgear. I was a real hit the the boys, as you can imagine.
oh, that prompt crush brought us down to a memoery lane didn’t it? Thanks for sharing your story and photo
. I enjoyed your scribblings 
Zandria,
This reminds of a high school trip I took on the band bus. Next to me sat this attractive, tall, senuously slim, blonde girl. She was a freshman and I was a senior. There is no question that she had a crush I me. I was attracted to her, but had a steady girl friend (she wasn’t in the band).
Unfortunately she moved to Chicago a few months later. I did write to her when I was in the Navy and she did respond, but we never explored a relationship further. Pleasant memories though. Thanks for taking me back
rel
awww- enjoyed your trip down memory lane.
I often think about old crushes.
Maybe he’ll stumble upon your blog and say hi
Ahh, the church musical crush, I know it well. Love the photos to bring it all into perspective!
Sigh. How we wish for those!
I was thinking the same thing…what if he showed up here…
Malia
Well, seeing how I was probably a foot shorter than you at age 11 (I didn’t reach my full height of 5′3″ until 15 or so), my height wasn’t a problem, but I think I had the same glasses!
Since I wanted to share a photo, I decided to write about my bespectacled misery here: http://blog.merrymishaps.com/2007/02/mid-eighties-torture-devices.html
Wish I’d known you when I was 13, maybe I could’ve conned you into betraying Ryan. Oh, well…
By the way, your blog is showing up all phase-shifted or something! Out of alignment.