Page 4

Random Thoughts Of A Tired Old Man
 

In  this episode of Random Thoughts I would like to tell the story of my first love. Her name was Leva Deleone. I hope I got the spelling right. The first time I saw Leva was like being hit by a bolt of lightning. She was in my class at George B McClellan Elementary schoolThi. Leva was of Hispanic origins and had the skin that only young Hispanic girls have. It was smooth and silky looking with that color that was hard to describe. The closest I can come would be light mahogany. Her hair was raven black and she had the kind of eyes that you felt like you could literally fall down into. When she looked at you your whole world stopped, you lost your hearing and nothing else existed except this vision before you. I was partial to pig tails and pony tails and she had the longest pig tails I ever saw. Being 7 year old I had no idea about what to do about this or any understanding of girls whatsoever. It was then I became a stalker. I would follow her home from school ducking into doorways and gangways so she wouldn’t see me.   Sometimes I would go over to where she lived and stand around outside in the dark hoping to catch a glimpse of her through the window. This went on the whole school year. Then she moved away. The flat where she lived was empty one day and I never saw her again. However the crushing blows life deals us life goes on. My life went back to bumming arould with Danny Packanowski. One of out diversions was breaking windows in and abandoned factory. During the war Allied Radio made stuff for the military in the factory but when the was ended they closed down and left. We would go back there from time to time and throw rocks through the windows. Until one day a beat cop caught us and took us home to our parents. Chicago had beat cops back in those days we generally knew their routes and routines. I’ll never forget the look of my mothers face when she opened the door and saw this tall uniformed cop standing there with me beside him. He explained what had happeded and told mom he would not report it as the factory was abandoned anyway. Needless to say I had a very bad week. That fall I fell in love again. One of the boys on the next block had a birthday party and invited a bunch of us kids the same age. In the course of the party a game of spin the bottle started up. As fortune would have it one girl spun the bottle and it ended up pointing to me. That meant we had to go in the closet and close the door and we had to kiss. The girl was blonde and had soft silky hair that hung straight down. She was soft and smooth to the touch and probably a little older than me. When we kissed it set my whole being on fire. I wished I could stay there forever holding her with our lips touching but it only lasted a few fleeting seconds and then it was over. I never forgot her or the feelings I felt that day. Life can be beautiful and cruel at the same time. More to come.