52 Cups of Poems: Cup Three: You Were The Quarterback...You Were The Basketball Star

Since it is Valentine's Day week, I decided to write a poem about Paul and I, and how our relationship began back in the summer of 1982.  When I was a freshman at Kellogg Junior High School, Paul was a senior at Kellogg High School.  His name was well known, because he was the quarterback of the football team, he was a starter on the basketball team, and plus he was really good looking.  During that summer of 1982, a group of us hung out all summer, and Paul was also home from college and was a part of that group.  I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that he would be interested in me.  But by the end of the summer, I was proven wrong.  Here is a little glimpse into what I was feeling that summer.

You Were the Quarterback….You Were the Basketball Star

 

I remember looking up and seeing you watching me with your intense blue eyes, and thought there was no way you were interested in me.  You were the quarterback.  You were the basketball star.  You were not interested in me.

We visited one night in your parent’s basement, talking about all kinds of things…getting to know one another.  You had just returned from a softball game.  I was recording records onto cassette tapes, using your stereo.  You were the quarterback.  You were the basketball star.  Why are you interested in talking to me?

During the week of church camp, someone said they thought you liked me.  I said no way.  Remember, you were the quarterback.  You were the basketball star.  You were not interested in me.

Later that week, you approached me rather shyly, asking if I wanted to go to the camp “bonfire”.  I said I would.  Wait a minute.  You were the quarterback.  You were the basketball star.  Why are you interested in going with me?

The night before I went back to college, we walked around town.  We watched semi-trucks rush under the freeway bridge on Interstate 90.  We sat in an old mining car and talked and talked.  Our first kiss was on my parent’s front porch.  You were the quarterback.  You were the basketball star.  Soon I found something else out about you.

It didn’t matter that you were the quarterback.  It didn’t matter that you were the basketball star.  What mattered most is, even way back then, was you were a man who loved God, loved his family, and soon loved me.  That has never changed.