Going Steady

       MONDAY, JUNE 29TH.

         GOING STEADY

  The popular musical "Bye Bye
Birdie" opens with "The Telephone
Song." It's about a teenage girl and
boy who just got "pinned" and are
going steady. By the way the
singers all use telephones with
cords!
   I don't know if young couples
still "go steady" these days. Maybe
there's a new term for it now. It's
hard to keep up with all the new
trends. But whatever it's called it
amounts to the first commitment
a couple makes to one another.
   The guy usually gives the girl
a Class ring or, perhaps, a
fraternity pin.
   In my case it was my Class ring.
I remember giving it to a girl as
we sat on a bench on the old
Steel Pier in Atlantic City. That
used to be the place to go long
before the gambling casinos
came to the shore. It ran one
quarter mile into the ocean and
had two movie theaters, a grand
ballroom, a Diving Bell, and
all sorts of amusements and
attractions. The girl was the big
attraction for me!
   I'm thinking about it today
because it's the anniversary
of the day I gave that girl my
ring.
   Of course as serious as they
seem at the time those
relationships don't always last.
A lot of things don't. The Steel
Pier, for instance, had been around
since 1898. It was destroyed by
fire in 1982. A small pier with
amusement rides now stands
where it once stood.
    On the other side of the
coin, however, some things do
last. It's 47 years today since
that girl accepted my Class ring
and we're still "Going steady."
She's my wife!
    Hope she, and you, have a
great day and that all your
NEWS is good!