The Balcony

I'll hold your hand & I'll kiss you too

Just a-sittin' in the balcony on the very last row

I wish that I could type and keep my eyes closed at the same time. I can only say, it is so much more vivid with my eyes closed. The smells are more distinct, the sounds so much clearer and the feelings more electrifying. I hope this trip to December 1956 will bring back some memories for you.

What is going on? Why is my heart pounding inside? The Broadway Theater was just around the corner. Who knows, she may just chicken out to. I'm sure though that she said, we would meet right outside at 6:45. It's only 6:40, so go ahead and if she isn't there, remember what time she said. OK here we go.

I turn the corner and there she is. Looking over the shoulder of one of the two girls she was talking to. I know that she must be the best looking girl I ever met. Her face surrounded by her scarf, Her warm wool coat was pulled tightly up around her neck.

It was December, and you can tell its December in Minnesota. I waved as I started towards them . She whispered something to her friends, giggled and started towards me.

"Hi" I said, but I am sure it sounded more like “Gnarfl”. Come on pal don't blow it now. You had this all rehearsed since Tuesday and here it is Friday night and all you have is “Gnarfl”? She smiles and then something magic happens. She put her arm through mine and said “Golly its cold”. She somehow knew, I'm sure, that if she didn't say something right then that all we would have all evening was Gnarfl.

At 14, not knowing what a hormone was but knowing that moods could swing from the depths of boredom one minute and be on Mars the next. The swing took place, and now I was back. I was cool and had this pretty girl next to me. I said “hi” to the girls who were still standing outside and giggling. I was Mr. Slick and in charge (at least for now).

We walked up to the window that was still outside back then and got two “Student Tickets”. I believe they may have been 35 or 55 cents each back then. I opened one of the big glass doors and let her in ahead of me. The entry was warm and immediately we unbuttoned our coats and took our gloves and hats off. You could smell and hear the popcorn popping. You gave your ticket in the lobby. Then you went to the popcorn stand. Of course this was the moment when I had to speak again, but miraculously my voice was perfectly clear. “What would you like?” “I'll share some popcorn, and I'll have a coke” She replied.

After getting our popcorn, I didn't even ask, I just walked right to the stairs that led to “The Balcony”. Your brains falling out at 13, has its advantages. Getting up to the balcony is the easy part. Its well lit and has a very wide stairway. It's after you turn the corner that things get a bit tricky. Now remember being a guy takes a little maneuvering. I had to make sure that I was just ahead of her on the stairs, as we turned the corner. This way, on the way up the stairs if some halfwit defensive lineman from the football team has his leg stuck out in the aisle (you know that never happened to me before), it would be you that tripped and not her. Of course it was also so you could pick out the best seats.

As you start up the narrow aisle you find out that some dumb designer has put carpet in the path of a 14 year old with large clumsy feet. I could feel my toes coming ever so closely to tripping against the stairs and yet somehow, I kept my balance. Mostly though I kept my “cool”.

We were just about to the top when I turned around and said, “How's this” I asked as if I had done it a hundred times or more. “This is fine”, she says. Now comes the maneuvering again. For some strange reason, boys know which side to sit on in the movies with a girl. For me she had to be on my left. The good hand must be kept free for some reason, leaving the left to slide easily around her shoulder.

I did not take her to the very back row. The only thing worse than taking a girl to the back row at the Broadway was taking her to the back row at the “Rivoli”. We sat about six to eight rows down from the top. The back row was taken up already though by the Senior High kids. You could see their feet draped over seats, with boys spilling popcorn all over the girl's skirts and laughing like there was nothing else going on. Didn't they know that this was “The Day?” Didn't they know that I was going to put my arm around this beautiful girl and maybe, just maybe, get to kiss her if I was lucky enough?

It was 5 minutes before the show started and right on queue, “excuse me I have to go downstairs” she said. This ritual seemed to be preformed by a number of girls as their wide skirts swishing as they passed down the steps. “Downstairs” of course, was that large room under the lobby that housed the restrooms.

This seemed to be the most wasted space to a 14 year old boy. It was full of unused vinyl covered couches. The only useful decor in whole room was the large mirror on one wall. Surrounded by two girls primping, and three boys making sure their duck Tails were smooth. When she arrived back to her seat I immediately saw and smelt the transition. Her hair was now smooth and silky and she smelled like a flower of some kind.

The movie that started I can say, I do not remember. It seemed quite incidental then as it does now. In some way I believe we both had come to this date with a lot of the same goals in mind. Oh how wrong we would be. About now most movies or stories would turn hot and steamy. But this tale is not about the loss of virginity. It is about how souls can pass in life and have that brief moment of love we all search for.

I could have spent the rest of the movie doing what all young teens go thru on their first date. Finding the comfortable way to get my arm around her shoulder and timing the first kiss. But there was something guiding these two kids on this Friday night because from the moment I turned to smile at something that happened on the screen, I lost all concept of time and where I was. When I turned her eyes became lost in mine . She had the deepest darkest eyes I can remember. And when two people can see that deep into each others soul, we knew exactly where our lips belonged. There was no missing and kissing the chin. It seemed there was a guidance system as our lips met and stayed together until both of us had to stop and gasp for air.

We did not spend the entire show lip locked or in some passionate grip. Our hands did stay locked together the entire time. Sometimes so tightly my knuckles would hurt. They have said that the early years of Rock-N-Roll were speeding through time to quickly. I believe that night, we were just a couple of kids trying to hang on to the few precious moments we had.

The movie was over and she lived right in town. I was looking forward to the walk to her house. I kicked snow aside with one foot just to slow down and make it last as long as possible. It seemed like, just like that we were there. Standing by that big Elm tree on the corner by her house. We talked for a while ( I don't know what about) and then she said it was late . I was expecting to get this big final kiss for the night but she just kissed my cheek and then she ran to the house …crying.

What had I done? Did she not tell her parents she was going out with me, and was supposed to be with the two girls, at the Broadway? Did I do something dumb or said something stupid? Or did she already know what she couldn't tell me. She was leaving Albert Lea. I often wonder what the circumstances were with her leaving, but I will never know. She was gone so fast and no goodbyes. At 14 your heart can mend quickly, but some pains live inside for a very long time.

Ladies, look across the room. There he sits. His jeans do not quite fit like they used to. His hair is gray and unruly since he quit using Brylcreem. But I bet that if you went over and sat down and put your head against his shoulder, his arm would easily slide around your shoulder. He may be watching TV and just mumble something. It may even sound a bit like Gnarfl. You can smile now and just say “Golly its cold” then close your eyes and you can take your trip to......."The Balcony"

And they call it Puppy Love

"Paul Anka 1960"

"Jerry Stensrud 2003"