WHAT THE WORLD WAS LIKE WHEN I WAS A TEEN

This was another question by one of my Facebook friends.

And it's not so easy to answer because I don't remember a whole lot. 

WWII ended on the day my middle school class celebrated our graduation at Griffith Park Zoo. The announcement was made over the loud speaker, and the lions roared!

All of the students in that class moved on to different high schools depending upon where they lived. My close friends and I all went to Eagle Rock High.  It was a junior and senior high, and the other kids had been together since 7th grade. The school was close as the crow flies, but in order to get there all of  us in my neighborhood had to walk two or three long blocks to Verdugo Road, catch a bus to the streetcar, ride the streetcar to Yosemite Way, and walk several long blocks to the school. And remember, there were no backpacks in those days. We carried all our books. We did have lockers to keep them in during the day.

(There was shorter way to go, but also dangerous, it was through the top of the hill, no houses, but hobos made their home up there, and you could get to the residential side of Yosemite across the main street where the streetcar ran. It was a forbidden shortcut, but I did use it a couple of times.)

My days at Eagle Rock High are more or less a blur--but I enjoyed most of it. Was voted in to a couple of clubs (based on popularity), loved most of my classes and the teachers, made new friends but mainly hung out with the old ones. Went to some parties--no booze. Had crushes on a couple of boys but no real dates. 

But--in my senior year, one of my friends asked me to to go on a blind date. I agreed, and I met my friend, her date, and two sisters with their dates and the sailor who was to be my date. (And that's a whole other story because that sailor became my husband that same year.)

During those high school years I baby sat and worked in an auto parts store, went to church and participated in a youth group on Sunday nights, Our family  always spent 3 weeks camping at Bass Lake, and a lot of Saturdays at various beaches.

The person who asked the original question also wanted to know how those teen years affected my writing. The answer is, I'm not sure except for all the experiences I had I'm sure influenced me a lot.

I kept a diary up until I met that cute sailor, then I didn't anymore. I always said when my life got really exciting, I quit writing about it.

So, I'm not sure how well that answered the question, but will have to do.

Marilyn