Hello Dolly

A new family move to Wann in 1966.  A mother, father, three sisters, and two brothers.  The family joined our church, and enrolled in school.  I developed a crush on the eldest daughter, Dolly.  I flirted the best I could at the age of 12, but to no avail.  Dolly was pretty, and had her choice of the guys.  Her younger sister, Louise, tried to get me to ditch my crush on Dolly and "go steady" with her.  Louise was the sweetest of all the girls and was very pretty as well.  However, she stood about 6' and an inch or two, and I was only 5' 3".  Just couldn't make my male ego accept the height difference.  Probably my loss.

Our family moved to Pawnee in 1968, and I lost all contact with the family.  In 1980, my job at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, transferred me to Osage County.  

One day, I was working near Bartlesville, and stopped at a convenience store for a drink.  After getting my drink, I was leaving the store and nearly ran head to shoulder into a lady entering the store.  I said, "excuse me."  The lady said, "Jerry?"  I looked up and responded, "Louise?" She still towered over my 5'9" height.

We stood at the entrance to the store and talked about old times.  She asked about my family, and I asked about her's.  She gave me the update on her two brothers, and one of the sisters.  She never mentioned Dolly.  I asked her what Dolly was up to.  She replied, "She's working in a cat house in Vegas."  Being a little naive, my mind made a quick evaluation of the situation.  

I thought she could be the accountant, the housekeeper, maybe the cook.  With those thoughts in mind, I asked, "Doing what?"  Louise shook her head, gave me a look, and said, "Well silly, what do you think she's doing?"

I appreciate Louise's honesty, but I'm not 100% sure I needed to know that.  That sort of ruins my first crush.