And She Was

My concern is that with all my recent posts about boys and men, you are going to believe that they’re all I think about, all the time. But I’ve actually been thinking about Stephanie Cook quite a bit because she is another person I never saw again after we graduated 20 years ago.

(I hope when you read phrases like, “we graduated 20 years ago,” that it makes you gasp with shock that way I still do every time I type it.)

Stephanie was Miss Slidell High at Saga Ball in 1986. She was a cheerleader, she was in Beta Club and Student Council, and she played flirty Ado Annie in our senior play. She was probably one of the most recognized girls in the entire school for people in every class. When we exchanged wallet-sized copies of our senior portraits, this picture took my breath away: she looked as glamorous as any model or actress I’d seen.

But I didn’t hate her. Honestly, we didn’t follow the script of a high school reunion movie, where I’m supposed to resent the popular beautiful girl and where she is supposed to be so mean that I have a less shallow reason to dislike her. Stephanie was fun! She was hilarious, sometimes even obnoxious, and she was smart! In fact, I remember driving with her and Michelle Thomas to a party at Lynette Folse’s house after a senior-play rehearsal, so she didn’t mind being seen with me at all.

I hope that Stephanie can come to the reunion on June 10. (Do you know where we can find her?) It’s not that I need to see what she’s wearing as much as I want to give her an Oklahoma hello. No, wait: that’d be Joe’s job. I think I’ll just give her a hug.