By Frank Ryan

We lived in Boring Oregon and it was 1948.  It was a small town but a was very  compact little berg  with a small grocery store, hardware, post office, and bank with our business being the big volume place. Dad and mom owned Jay’s Tavern.

 Jay’s was a family type place where kids could come and go in the restaurant during the day, and where I had full run.  I earned a little cash from dad doing chores. I cleaned the spittoons out back, ran the bottles out and dusted down the card tables and kept the pool tables clean and full of chalk.  This netted me about 50 cents a week on a good week.  For fun we kids

Played Ollie-Ollie Ox and Free and Kick the Can!

 “Hey Rhonda”, I said. “Want to play cowboys and Indians?” I chided. 

“We played kick the can last night and you left before I could ask you the question. “ 

“Yah”, she said. “I had to go home and eat dinner. Mom was late and I was hungry as a bear.”

She explained.  “So what was that question you wanted to ask?”

 “Well I um uh, well I just wanted a favor,” I said.  “I don’t do favors so forget it.” She replied

I said, “But Rhonda, I like you a lot and I want you to kiss me!”  She hooted, “A big no on that one!”

I looked at her and thought for a minute and blurted out, “Not even if I give you my last dime for candy? Not even for 42 cents? I Pleaded.  “You bet she replied and came over and grabbed me and planted a solid, dry and stiff kiss on my two surprised little lips.”  I remembered later that was only the second time a girl kissed me in my whole darned life.

 These were the days in the 1940’s.  This was the wild frontier and I was an adventurer just like Gene Autry or Roy Rogers.  I got to kiss the girl, just like in the movies.