Thursday, January 27, 2005

The Redhead, the Redneck and the Tarot

ADDICTED TO LOVE   (part VIII)

 

Very near to the end of the second semester of my illustrious career at Murray, several of us thought it would be great fun to have our cards read. The woman who did the reading was a legendary talent with the Tarot.

When it was my turn, I was told I would marry a man with dark hair. What a relief to my 19 year old neurotic self. I, who was secretly concerned that I was totally undesirable and would never find someone to love me, was reassured that someone somewhere sometime would find me. Unfortunately, the man I was crazy about at the time was a red head!

Did I go to college to find a husband? Perhaps it lurked in the back corners of my mind. It is perfectly obvious I did not go to receive an education! Before the Redhead, I never really had what one would call a true boyfriend. There never was a certain someone that I could count on for a standing Saturday night date. Going steady during high school, wearing a boys Senior ring on my finger, wound tight with angora yarn to fit snugly on my finger was not meant to be.

The Redhead was my first bona-fide boyfriend! I met him through his room mate, the Redneck, who was pledging the fraternity of which I was one of the swinging little sisters. Both the Redhead and the Redneck were from Louisville. The south end of Louisville to be exact, renown as the breeding ground of staunch rednecks.

No trucks for these rednecks. The Redhead drove the sweetest 'Cuda. The hottest car on campus. It was solid black with white leather interior. I think I loved that car as much as I liked the Redhead. He also introduced me to the Lake area of western Kentucky.

Way back in the 1940s, the TVA dammed up and flooded a massive area of Kentucky and Tennessee in that corner of the world, creating three of the most beautiful lakes, Lake Barkley, Ken Lake, and the Kentucky Lake. The Redhead's family had a summer cottage on Ken Lake.

Could it get any better? I was riding around in a hot muscle car heading for fun times at a gorgeous lake house!

Our romance lasted through the end of the semester. It could not survive the long summer separation. Upon returning to school in the fall, the Redhead met and fell in love with Molly. Amazingly enough, they were both from Louisville and both had red hair! It is impossible to fight destiny, let alone the Tarot cards.

Alone again, naturally.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stance rednecks? I didn't know there was a sub-phylum. When I was 19, I wanted to stay 19 for the rest of my life.

Anonymous said...

OMG girl, we gotta meet. Oh, the places we'll go.   Anne

Anonymous said...

ah I remeber that song along again naturally LOL yeah I think we all feel we are undesireable and unwanted. its a right of passage. Lori

Anonymous said...

Mary! I'm loving the Addicted to Love series ... the songs. They are absolutely wonderful! Real. Heartbreaking. Compelling. Reading these kind of reminds me of GO ASK ALICE -- the diary. Not the theme, of course, but the snap-shot diary glimpses of Alice's life.

You are a writer, girl. So very interesting!

Anonymous said...

Part eight and you're only nineteen...this promises to be a long and fascinating series!  Lovin' it--  Lisa  :-}

Anonymous said...

You had such an interesting youth. I'm so boring. I met my husband at 14 and married him at 18. Dumb move.
Angela

Anonymous said...

"Those were the days, my friend. We thought they'll never end. We sang and dance forever and a day." Wooohooooo! Reading your stories makes me feel  like a teenager again. Thanks, Mary! Let the goodtimes roll!!!

Anonymous said...

And to think, I was right here, only 600 miles away. You are still married, right?

Anonymous said...

I love the lake area.  It's just so beautiful there.

Anonymous said...

Your life story is so amazing and full of "life"!  JAE

Anonymous said...

"my illustrious career at Murray"....ROTFLOL! Your "addicted to love" series is great! I'm really enjoying these entries.  And the photos are awesome too.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I had a lot of boyfriends in college...not.  Books were my company.  Ho hum, lol.

At least you had a fun semester with the Redhead.  For a first real boyfriend you didn't do bad at all!

Anonymous said...

Most of my favorite botfriends were gay or turned out to be...could it be me?

Anonymous said...

Ha! My Mother was and is a psychic addict. She took me to her favorite (at the time) back when I was around 18 or so. What did I learn? My future husband would be very tall, red haired and would play professional basketball. Uh, yeah. Since I obviously didn't marry Dave Cowens (the only redheaded pro basketball player I can think of off the top of my head)... you get the picture. LOL

Anonymous said...

I am so enjoying these entries! My first love was a redhead. "Rusty" was something else. I think of him and all our wild adventures more times than I would ever admit! :) Nelle

Anonymous said...

As a redhead myself, I always sort of wanted to have one of my own, too. Didn't happen yet!

I am so enjoying this pass through your past!
xoxo

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, rednecks from south louisville...LOL!...we were at my aunt's birthday party today (right here in Iroquois Park in the south end of Louisville, the only place that could possibly be more redneck is, um, Fairdale!) and for a gift she got an Elvis glitter lamp thing (some collector's item, she collects Elvis memorabilia)...and as my whole family oohed and aahed over it, all I could think was, "You might be a redneck if..." LOL!.

Anonymous said...

Great !
V