thrilla nite

the former miss mj2 asked what our favorites of michael jackson's were. funny how it's hard to pin songs down when they are so absorbed into a moment. i really just don't know the answer to that.

my very first boyfriend was paul w_ts_n. it seems his grandfather had the meat locker in town. our favorite song was "let's get physical". for my birthday he once gave me a three-charmed heart necklace in a heart-shaped tin jewel box with a puppy dog on the porcelain lid. i have it still. we told our mothers on a sunny summer morning that we would make babies for them. our sole request as compensation was a life-time supply of m&m's and... something four-year-old's equally prize. i want to say bubble gum, but no one is around to proof me that fact. when asked how paul and i would have these babies, we told our mothers what we knew about the birds and bees from spying on their daytime stories: we would roll around on the bed and smell each other's necks. paul moved away before that favorite tale of my mother's would become embarrassing.

my second boyfriend was marty p_pp_t. it was a short-lived romance. a fling. i broke up with him when i saw what his bedroom looked like. there was nothing fun to play with, no decent toy or game to pass our time. he cried. i traced a heart on my backseat window to him as we left his house in the drizzled night rain. it was very dramatic. i imagine i was still spying too many soaps.

my third boyfriend was kevin h_lb_n. older now, i considered kevin to be my first true love. i re-named my lucky win cabbage patch after him. we met at reunion - guthrie - the family church camp i went to that year with my grandparents. his grandparents and mine were good friends, and the h_lb_ns had brought their granddaughter and another grandson as well. all four of us the same ages. jennifer and i sharing a first name. jennifer and kevin the same last. i new my married name would have a nice ring to it, and moreover, i could say it out loud whenever i wanted without being reckless. reckless = teased for bridal day-dreaming. it's not that i didn't get into trouble.

i was sitting next to kevin at campfire. everyone gathers on a steep hill around the nightly bonfire. suddenly my wheelchair brakes were pulled so hard i was certain something had given and i was about to wheel right into the flames in the midst of "i've got love like an ocean". a split-second later and the jerk back, i reconsidered my descent thinking i would not roll but take flight. grandma was a stern woman and i feared her more than any other being on earth. i would never intentionally disobey her. hand to heart, i had completely forgotten my promise to swap nap time for an early bedtime. to this day, that moment is in the top ten of all-time most frightening experiences. i took my naps after that in exchange for campfires and the trips we'd make to the canteen for now-and-laters on the walk back to our cabins.

kevin and i exchanged what we thought were love letters. he sent me pictures from school talent shows and his father's second-wedding with him all dressed up as ring bearer. we tagged along whenever our grandfathers came to preach at the other's church, sometimes with his cousins, sometimes not. my cousin and i tape-recorded "chariots of fire" off the radio and i whispered at the end "i love you, kevin" which is barely audible above the giggling.

by the sixth grade we seemed to have a mutual realization of how corny we had been and this mutual realization brought on a sort of mutual embarrassment and serious awkwardness whenever our families gathered together. when we found ourselves together again at a church convention our junior year i seriously got butterflies. he was so tall. when i first met vern i chuckled to myself at how he looked like i imagined kevin did all grown up. kevin doesn't. a few months ago we became friends again on facebook. he and his wife have three boys and is a fire fighter in the same town he was raised. his grandparents have both passed. he looks so old with one of those goat-less mustache goatee things.

i asked if he could still moonwalk. i could about hear his choked laughter. every reunion has a variety show and that summer we met and became such fast friends, kevin did a michael jackson routine complete with the red jacket, hat, socks and high-water pants. i remember another group singing 'elvira'. they were fun, but kevin was amazing. it was as close as i've ever been to dating a celebrity and while many other big moments are tied to jackson hits, the one that stands out most is kevin performing 'thriller'. i often do not consider mj without a thought of kh. and then feeling kind of giddy reminiscing about the alluring mixed scent of campfire smoke, avon's skin-so-soft, and willy wonka candy.