Dear Group, I'm a bit embarrassed to post this to the list but here goes. OK, boys and girls, I guess have to get this out of my system. When Elsa sent a message to the list regarding the Spanish American War and her ancestor(?) George Rushton, it brought to mind the boy I used to know, Jerry Rushton. Now, Elsa, I hope that what I'm about to confess as a schoolgirl about Jerry, won't embarrass you or your family but I just had to let it out. Picture this: The year was 1945. The date was April 9. I was 13 years old and Jerry was 14. Now hold your breath here while I tell you this-on April 9, 1945, Jerry Rushton kissed me!!! Oh, my GAWD, Oh, my GAWD, Jerry Rushton actually KISSED me!!! Now why do I know the precise date that Jerry Rushton kissed me? Well, it's because of such important events in a girl's life that she records them diligently-in her diary! Now I'd love to give you the step-by-step details that led up to that kiss, but the event that I recorded in my diary was only an important notation. I didn't start recording in that diary until January 1, 1946. But let me tell you that I hadn't seen the last of Jerry Rushton! Granted, as I recall, our mutual mode of transportation at that time were our bicycles and frankly even though I just hurriedly skimmed through my 1946 diary, I can't find any sort of a reference to him after that. I just know that I had a crush on him for years afterward. But I still remember him vividly. He was a particularly handsome guy who had a really attractive scar above his left eye. When he was a kid and mowing the grass on the DeVeaux school grounds, a rock flew up and hit him. As a result, it eventually gave him a "mysterious" expression that all the girls found fascinating. The last real contact that I had with Jerry was a few years later and it was a very physical one. Oh, come on now! Not THAT kind!! :-) It was an afternoon when the neighborhood guys were having a football game on the DeVeaux grounds and I was standing on the sidelines watching them play. By that time (ca 1947 or 48) Jerry was on the Junior Varsity football team at Niagara Falls High School and I guess I was determined to beat him at his own game-football! I insisted that the guys let me play, they thought it was a big joke but they went along with it. I can still see it now. Someone threw a long pass to Jerry, he caught it and guess who gave him a full body tackle that brought him to the ground!!! ME! (tee hee!) OK, I'm lying here. All that I did was to manage to grab at his legs, it tripped him up and the touchdown never happened. But do you know what? I really didn't want to beat him at the game. All I really wanted to do was to get his attention. It's amazing what teenage girls will do to accomplish such a simple thing. Yes it DID get his attention but somewhere along the line after that he no longer seemed to have any desire to kiss me. I guess he never really knew that all along I was a girl whose only desire was to dress up in frilly dresses, dance with boys, have a crush on them and then be rewarded with the thrill of a kiss. Such are the memories of the awkward teenage years of the 1940s. vee