I remember that in the lower grades, there were girls I liked. Why not? They were pretty and friendly. There were girls I dreamed about, literally. In the 3rd grade, I asked a girl to go to the Saturday movie with me. Her mother kept saying "How cute!" That remark and her tone made me doubt my maturity. By grade 7, a good looking girl said, "Meet me after school." Suavely, I said, "Why?". She wanted to walk home together and we did. She probably didn't realize that the words she said were used to challenge another guy to a fight after school. I didn't think I had offended her in any way and I didn't think it was a good idea to trade punches with a girl. Not that I was much of a puncher. My fisticuff skills were not developed and never have been.
By 8th grade, I asked out a girl who had been on my mind since 6th grade. We went together sporadically for two years. She was friendly and smart and looked me up on my 60th birthday and we communicated after that until she died. I went to an all-male high school, a public high school in a major city that had 14 high schools. I found I could afford the good nearby teachers' college at $67 a year. The low price came from state support for teachers. Nobody mentioned the obvious: many young women are interested in teaching so my experiences with females were quite different in college.
All my life, my mother, my sister and my wife have helped me understand and appreciate the better gender.
