One Sweet Day

Heart-dotted i's! That's how you knew I was REALLY in love. And ohmygosh, can you believe that Richard and I stared at each other for a full 30 seconds? At the time, that was the most romantic event in my life... now it just sounds kind of awkward and creepy.

THE Lianna is actually in town this week and staying with me. I asked her if she remembered the dance in this entry (because I don't). After thinking for a minute or so, her response was, "Um, it was in the gym." All our dances were in the gym. We agreed there were just too many dances in middle school to keep them straight.

Then we found "One Sweet Day" on YouTube and sang the whole song together. We still remembered all the lyrics, knew every single undulation of Mariah Carey's voice, and nailed the key change-- all of which is pretty surprising considering we probably haven't heard that song in 10 years. How could we remember the song so well and yet have no memory of the dance?

As we were singing the song, I realized for the first time EVER that "One Sweet Day"... a song that has such romantic associations in my memory... is about SOMEONE WHO DIED. How the hell did I miss that before? "And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven / Like so many friends we've lost along the way / And I know eventually we'll be together / One sweet day." Not so romantic anymore. Yikes.

So, I asked Lianna, "Whoa, is this song about someone who DIED?" She responded, "Yeah! I think it was about some rapper or something." I said, "No, that was 'I'll Be Missing You'."

Turns out we were both right, kinda. "One Sweet Day" was written for a music producer, a guitarist, and a road manager who passed away and "I'll Be Missing You" was written for Notorious B.I.G. Apparently there were a lot of R&B tribute songs in the 1990's. Unfortunately for the writers of those songs, I instead associate them with tween hormones and awkward middle school slow dances.

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“1-18-97. Dear Yraid, All I can think about is Richard! He is so cute & sweet! He’s not afraid to ask girls out. Plus, he really likes me! Oh & I really like him too! I think I’ll say yes. Hopefully, we’ll go out & last. Last night Doug & Jaime were really close then they danced. Her head was on his shoulder! Jaime said they kissed! Doug really likes her. She should be happy I told her not to dump him! They’re a really good couple but not as good as me & Richard! When Richard & I were dancing he was really shaking. At one point I felt him pull me closer! But, hey, that’s fine with me! We danced 4 times! Once during the last song, we both looked at each other & smiled. We were looking at each other for like 30 seconds! How romantic! Also at the dance he asked me why I dumped him. I said I didn’t know. I really don’t. I think I’m gonna say yes! I feel bad for Lianna. I need to get Steve to like her but how. Steve already hates me. Oh! I need to some good in this world! Help me. Help her. Lianna & I just figured out that the last song was “One Sweet Day.” Ooh! I have that tape! I can play it for flashbacks. See ya! Krista I love Richard! Lianna loves Steve!”

Boyz II Men

Hahahahha. Hahhaha. Hahahhahaha. Please tell me I'm not the only one who is cracking up thinking about seventh graders slow dancing to "I'll Make Love to You". I had never even kissed a boy... hell, I had never even held hands with a boy... and yet I was slow dancing to lyrics like: "Throw your clothes on the floor / I'm gonna take my clothes off too". Ahh... we were too naive to recognize the awkwardness.

Speaking of that song, at some point in 4th or 5th grade, I thought it would be a really good idea to walk around the house with my light pink boombox propped on my shoulder playing the radio at full blast and singing along. I don't know where I picked that up from, but I thought I was the shit. As I jammed my way into the kitchen where my mom was cooking dinner, the chorus of "I'll Make Love to You" was playing and I was singing along at the top of my lungs. My mom turned around from the stove, her face half-skeptical/half-horrified and asked, "Do you even know what that means?" Of course, I said, "pshh-yeah!" But truthfully, I don't think I had a clue.

Hopefully I knew what it meant by seventh grade... but my nonchalance when mentioning the song makes me think otherwise. However, it's possible that I did know the meaning but also thought I was so mature that it wasn't weird for us to be dancing to it. Or maybe it was just another slow song to me, just another opportunity to dance with my crush.

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“1-17-97. Dear Yraid, Today Melissa walked past as Jaime said to me, “I have something to tell you.” Here’s how the rest went: MS: Jaime, you’re not gonna tell her what I think, right? JC: No. KD: What isn’t she going to tell me? MS: Nothing. (walks away) I run up to her and demand that she tells me. She told me that Richard is going to the dance but he didn’t want me to know, he wanted it to be a surprise! I’ll write back after the dance! Hi, I’m back from the dance. Jaime asked Richard if he’d dance with me. He said yes. So we did to “I’ll Make Love To You”. Then awhile later, Jaime asked him again. He said, “Sure, why not?!” A little while later Richard came up to me and said, “Okay, I need to get something straight. I heard rumors that you want to go back out with me. But I’ve also heard that you don’t. What’s true?” I told him that I wasn’t sure yet. I’d have to think about it more. Then another while later a slow song came on and Richard walked up to me and said, “Wanna dance?” I said sure. So we did again. Then the last song of the night came on and Richard came up to me and this time I said, “Wanna dance?” He said okay. So we did. We kept getting closer & closer. We were REALLY close! Plus, he asked me out! I said maybe. I’ll tell him on Tues. What should I say? I really like him. But my feelings might change! What do I do? –Krista”

Finally, Acceptable Flirting

Yes, much better. I consider passing a marker to your crush in front of a bunch of classmates to be an acceptable means of flirtation. Calling names, making faces, pushing, hitting, and bra-snapping are NOT. Those things were temporarily satisfying because it gave you an excuse to talk to or touch your crush... but at the end of the day, you sat in bed frowning and thinking, "I called him a loser and pushed him into a wall- I can't understand why he doesn't like me!"

I still remember the euphoric feeling of passing that marker to Richard. It was so much more thrilling than the other forms of supposed flirting. It used to be cool to pretend like you actually didn't like your crush to his face (while all your friends were telling him the truth). But for once, I was openly admitting it myself. I was making it clear to Richard, my classmates, and even Mr. Jones that I liked Richard and I wasn't afraid to show it. I felt free and giddy and excited. Flirting finally felt right. And it all started with a marker.

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“1-16-97. Dear Yraid, Today in homeroom Melissa came in & told Jaime that Richard probably can’t go because of a family get-together. But she said he said that he’d beg his dad to let him go. Then in Social Studies Mr. Jones asked the class who was going to the dance. Me & some other people raised their hands. Richard said, “I don’t know, I might go. I have to ask my dad.” Then also in Social Studies, we had to do a paper of map with connecting points. Every person that went up to the overhead & drew a line had to pick the next person. Well, Rachel picked me & I drew my line. Then I had to pick someone else & I gave the marker to Richard! Oooh! I think I was really blushing! Hee-hee! Plus, Richard got a main part in the school play! I’m so happy for him. I didn’t try out cuz I didn’t. Bye!”