A couple months ago, my sister Shawn let me know that my 18 year old niece Sophia was in her first serious relationship with a boy and his name was Colby. I asked if this Colby was a nice boy, Shawn said yes, he’s nice.
I haven’t heard anything in awhile, so recently I asked if Sophia & Colby were still an item and my sister said yes. I said “So how about a picture of this young man?” I got the pic above. What the—!! These two look like they fell out of the Disney Channel, you have got to be kidding me!
I mean, of course I’m very happy for them (and even happier for my sister that Sophia’s young man isn’t a 32 year old Hell’s Angel) but these two take the cake. I said “So what do they do for fun when they’re not posing for adorable selfies in matching comfy pants?”
Shawn said “Well, they enjoy putting puzzles together” and sent me these 2 pics.
I said that’s great, but I’ve seen enough.
Frankly, these two were making me feel like white trash. Around the time I was their age during the holidays, I had recently broken up with my chain-smoking girlfriend Sherri and was involved with a girl named Kelly from work. We were invited to her cousin’s trailer for a Christmas party, and inside was a keg (filled with beer I assume) and this metal washtub filled with purple liquid and swollen oranges bobbing around in it.
When I asked what the concoction was, someone said “You want a Purple Jesus? Jesus is the reason for the season!” I learned the liquid was grape kool-aid & grain alcohol. You drop a couple sacks of oranges into the stuff, they soak up the drink and… voila. A Purple Jesus.
While I was mulling over the possibility of trying one and not making it to my 19th birthday, Kelly said “Gimme one of those things!” and chomped into one. A few minutes later, she was face down on the floor, passed out cold. Ah, good times.
These kids today… what can you say!
As you found out, kids these days aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. You should be very proud of them! I once found myself at a party that featured a bucket of icy sweet fruit punch. Cold, refreshing, tasted really good! I only found out later, after I woke up, that it was laced with grain alcohol. Not a pleasant memory.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing Tom we are from another generation! 😄
DeleteThey are a cute couple! Also very cute is the Siamese cat helping with the puzzle. I like the puzzle's message, "Its the ladies who don't love cats that are crazy"
ReplyDeleteFlorence, you have such an awesome eye! To be honest I laughed the first time I saw that photo, that is Sophia's cat Flynn and he worships the ground she walks on! He's not Siamese but boy did he look like when as a kitten. Anyway thank you for the sweet response my friend. ♥️🙂
DeleteSuch a cute, adorable couple! I wish them well. As for your experiences with women, well, what can I say? You just have to find someone who shares your interests and values, that's all. It's hard, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThank you Gigi! All kidding aside, I very much agree they are adorable. As for myself, I think I'm a lost cause! 😉
DeleteThis was a surprise to wake up to! And I had SUCH a laugh, with tears, at the "Frankly, these two were making me feel like white trash." My God, you're so funny.
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks Shawn, from the time we were 5 years old you've always gotten me! Well, it's true what I wrote. But I do admire and love Sophia very much. Very proud of her! 🙂👍♥️♥️
DeleteMy son tells the story of going out (for a short time) with a girl from work. She wanted to go to a party with her friends to introduce Dylan. He said the people all looked 'sketchy' but he tried to get through it. The girl kept getting drunker and drunker which made him very nervous. He started trying to urge her to the door. She began getting grumpy and telling people, 'anyone want to beat up my boy friend?' In the end, someone pulled a gun on him. He said to the girl, 'Party's over. Let's go.' She said, 'But I'm having fuuuuuunnnnn...' He said, 'I went outside, got in my little red jeep and left her there.' That's white trash, Doug.
ReplyDeleteWell Debby, I was half kidding but that was a pretty scary story! Your son literally got out of there with his life! Still, I witnessed enough at my niece's age that I very much hope she'll never deal with. 🙄
DeleteHe was pretty sure the guy wouldn't shoot him, but everyone was drinking and...well...
DeleteThey are adorable and love the matching PJ's. Hey, puzzles are a lot better than what they could be into. The cat was a nice catch by Florence. I had to go back and really look to see him. Voting at 18, cool-- we had to wait till 21. It is good with some of the sketchier choices out there that they seem to have made good ones. I know--like you-- I was a lot wilder and crazier at that age. Never had a Purple Jesus though:)
ReplyDeleteThank you Patti and can you believe that Florence? Nothing gets past her! Well, I was happily surprised to see these two had voted. I was dying to ask but it was none of my business! I feel pretty old here, my first election was Jimmy Carter's second term! And finally, Patti too funny what you wrote here. In my senior yearbook, 30 people wrote to a wild and crazy guy, remember our wild and crazy times! I am not kidding! 😄
DeleteSophie and Colby are a nice couple. We want only the best for our youth and your are a loving and protective uncle. Sophie is lucky to have you in her life. Many youth are on their own with no significant caring adult. Sophie will never, ever be in that position. Shawn should be pleased. You, Sophie and Colby should meet for lunch or dinner. Alternatively, coffee and a movie would be nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you Susan, very sweet what you wrote here. To be honest, it's been awhile since I've seen Sophia. Between her school, sports, boyfriend and job at Cracker Barrel, she doesn't have much time for anything else. I'm hoping when she gets a little older that will change. 🙂
DeleteThey are an adorable couple! I was up to no good in college (when I was 18) although I was squeaky clean in high school. I'm glad they voted, hopefully for people Uncle Doug would approve of. :)
ReplyDeleteHaha thank you Margaret, they are! And by the way, I was just like you. Squeaky clean in high school, let my hair down soon after. As for who they voted for.. I'd love to know but it'd be wrong to ask.. right? 😉
DeleteWhat a sweet couple! I remember (back when drinking age was 18) going to a party where they served lime gimlets. Oh my.... They tasted so good, definitely could not taste the alcohol. I had one too many.
ReplyDeleteMy niece and her husband enjoy hanging out with her parents and us old folks! Kind of sweet. But this was nothing we would have done in the 70's, that's for sure. Times have changed, and in many ways for the better.
Carole
Carole, I've never had a lime gimlet but now you have me craving one--that sounds good! And I very much think you're right (in regards to the younger generation). Times have changed in a good way, thank goodness. Thanks Carole. :^)
DeleteCute couple, Dug. Hearing some stories about things done in youth makes me feel like I led a very sheltered life. Didn't date much in high school, but did pretty much in college. However, I only had one bad experience where the boy (frat boy) got so drunk that I asked him to take me home. That never happened again. But I think kids today (if they don't get caught up with drugs) are doing OK. They are certainly more aware of the world and it's problems than I was at their age.
ReplyDeleteRian my friend, thank you very much for sharing--I like hearing these memories from back in the day. I'm just glad your bad experience was an only one. And I couldn't agree more, I DO think kids today are much more aware of the world around them than my generation was. And we need their voices (and votes) more than ever.
DeleteWhat a cute couple indeed! I laughed out loud at the trailer trash! I learned my lesson about avoiding drinks at 18 when my brother encouraged me to get drunk at a party and I puked my guts out for what seemed all night. I stuck to dancing the night away…. Joyce
ReplyDeleteHaha thank you Joyce! And good for you for learning your lesson so fast. I didn't try alcohol once in high school, but a year or so after.. I learned the hard way it's not for me. I don't think I've danced since then either! 🙂
DeleteHi Doug, Sophia and Colby are adorable. Goodness, Sophia 18, voting, a job and a boyfriend. Where have the years gone???
ReplyDeleteLike Florence I spied Flynn helping out with the puzzle. He is a cutie too.
No personal experience with alcohol in high school beyond helping a friend who got drunk at a dance. Not a pleasant experience!
Take care.❤️
Robin you are too sweet, thank you - - I've been thinking the same thing where have the years gone! And good for you for spotting Flynn, you and Florence are a lot alike. And glad to hear you were a non drinker in high school I am not surprised. Please say hi to Chuck for me and I hope you're ready for the holidays. ♥️🙂
DeleteChuck say Hi back!😆
DeleteI think they are an adorable couple. And I had to go back and find the cat and read the words on the puzzle. I came from another era, that's for sure! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks DJan--well, you motivated me to go back and read the words on that puzzle too, haha.
DeleteCute photos! That first love is always special.
ReplyDeleteAt that age I was dating a bad boy and it was all fun and games. After my high school graduation he beat the crap out of me and that was the end of that. Years later, he reached out to my mom and she let me know he was asking about me. No thanks. He had married, had a kid and went to jail for domestic abuse on his partner and child.
Fun times! :p
Maebeme, I'm so sorry you had to go thru that--ugh, this man sounds like he should be in jail! My dad always taught us boys, real men don't strike women. Well, Sophia's beau here certainly doesn't look like the type, I hope it stays that way!
DeleteAwww... that is such a sweet photo of Sophia and her beau. It's lovely to know she's grown into a responsible, adorable young woman with a kind looking boyfriend. Uuuummmm... when I was her age, I was not really dating yet and had never had any alcohol. I did have both in college though.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kay! They do make a nice couple, don't they... and good for you for steering clear of alcohol, I didn't have any in high school either, but did some experimenting in college. Never liked it :^)
DeleteI don't remember doing wild things in my teens, I was quiet and shy, but there were kids who spent the entire summer holidays on the beach, mostly drunk all night and sleeping it off during the day. They kept to one end of the beach though, so that was okay. Then there were kids who drove loud cars with louder stereos and gangs who hung around the shops. I didn't see the point, I had books to read. and then I got married. At 18.
ReplyDeleteI have to say Sophia and Colby are a nice couple and smart for being sensible about life.
River you remind me of my mom here--she got married when she was 18 too (on her 18th birthday, in fact). Thank you for the nice words about Sophia and Colby, all kidding aside I admire their maturity a lot. :^)
DeleteThey are charming, and probably very responsible at whatever they're doing. Putting together puzzles is REALLY being home-bodies. Better than being a gang member, or always looking at a cell phone. I'm much more retroactively worried about YOU at a similar age. At least your sister recovered into the reality of catching you with your girl in your parents house.....and you're worried about your niece? Naaa, she should be worried about possible bad influences from her uncle! (My 35 year-old son and his wife are not big party people: they claim to be boring and stay at home, but they sometimes take nice vacations. AND they vote, correctly. In my day, in the back of a hay-filled enclosed U-Haul truck was a 33 gallon drum of stuff to drink, called Purple Passion. Yep, got real tipsy. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteLinda I always wind up reading your comments 2-3 times! Listen, I'm about as good an influence as those kids above could get! I wasn't exactly an angel growing up, but I was also King of the Nerds trust me. :^) Well it sounds like you raised a smart son, and this Purple Passion of yours sounds very familiar...
DeleteThe Wholesome Niece and her first Love Interest are Adorable... the Granddaughter I'm Raising is very much like that which is a relief, given my turbulent Teens and her Mom's turbulent Teens... we sometimes ask her if she's Adopted? She quips, Yes, Gramma, remember, you DID Adopt me. *snicker, True*
ReplyDeleteThank you Bohemian, and that's so sweet about your granddaughter, thanks for sharing that... so nice! :^)
DeleteYou’re right – what’s wrong with kids these days?
ReplyDeleteI won’t launch into my life around that age either – this is a family column after all.
I hope they’re also politically involved, as we were, unlike the generations in between.
Peter my friend, it's going to be awhile before we see a generation as politically active as your own--but they are involved, which made me very happy to know :^)
DeleteNice post! Looks like a great couple of kids. Your own experience was funny and most of our generation can relate!
ReplyDeleteThanks Retirement Coffee Shop, much appreciated and nice to meet you. 🙂
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