Authors: Terry Lee
PART TWO
Thirty-Something
Chapter 12
1992
A lot had changed in the past twenty years. Listening to music had gone from vinyl, to 8-track, to cassette, to CDs. Cable TV had become a staple in most homes, as were VCRs. The Beta vs VHS war had ended, leaving VHS the clear winner. The first Blockbuster Video Rental opened in Dallas in 1985, which, for the first time, gave the box office a run for their money, no longer earning revenue on “reruns” at the theaters.
Microsoft released Windows 3.1, AT&T showcased their first video telephone for $1,499, and the Gameboy hit the scene. Telephone answering machines became a huge hit, allowing people to return home to a blinking light waiting for them with a message, hopefully not from a bill collector. Also, most homes now sported at least one cordless phone, granting freedom to roam the house while engaging in conversation. Almost everyone had a pager, and portable phones were about the size of a shoe box.
The NBC Nightly News
hosted Tom Brokaw, the
ABC World News Tonight
audience was entertained by Peter Jennings, and Dan Rather greeted viewers of the
CBS Evening News
.
On May 22, 1992, at the age of sixty-six, Johnny Carson stepped down as host of
The Tonight
Show
with Bette Midler his final guest, singing
One For My Baby
. His farewell signoff was a major media event. NBC handed the role of host to Jay Leno, who soon became a strong competitor with David Letterman, who owned the nighttime entertainment spot on CBS. Popular TV shows at that time included
60 Minutes, Roseanne, Home Improvement, Murphy Brown, Murder She Wrote, Coach, Cheers, Full House
, and
Northern Exposure
.
Out of Africa, Steel Magnolias,
and
Pretty Woman
had been out for a while, and a majority of women across the nation could most likely quote lines from one, if not all three. A larger preponderance of women, particularly Southern women, could not only repeat lines, but entire scenes from
Steel Magnolias.
One of the favorite lines being, “
You got a reindeer up your butt?”
Marky Mark Wahlberg and Fabio were the heartthrobs, and quotes like “You can’t handle the truth!” and “There’s no crying in baseball!” were born, as were Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Taylor Lautner, Demi Lavato, Josh Hutcherson, Vanessa Marano, and Nick Jonas, to name a few.
Bill Clinton became president, defeating George Bush, Sr., Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida on August 22, TWA declared bankruptcy, and two of the strongest earthquakes ever to hit California struck the desert area east of Los Angeles. The FDA urged stopping the use of silicone gel for breast implants, and the nicotine patch was introduced, while the largest mall in the country, Minnesota’s Mall of America, was constructed spanning seventy-eight acres. Rioting broke out in Los Angeles over the beating of Rodney King, and Willie Nelson’s tax dispute with the IRS ended with Willie forking over something between $6-9 million.
The Oscar winner for Best Picture went to
Unforgiven,
while other top-dollar movies were
Aladdin, A Few Good Men, The Bodyguard, A League of Their Own, Batman Returns,
Sister Act, Home Alone 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Basic Instinct,
and
Wayne’s World.
Some of the well-known musicians included Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., Boyz II Men, Madonna, U2, Genesis, Kiss, Mariah Carey, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Def Leppard, Metallica, Michael Jackson, and Whitney Houston. Lollapalooza, an annual music festival (1991-1997) featured popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock, and hip hop. In its second year the festival brought bands and individuals to center stage such as Nine Inch Nails, The Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cure, and Lady Gaga.
A genre of music had been “reborn” over the last twenty years. Country music had come to stay with names like George Strait, Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Randy Travis, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Clint Black, Trisha Yearwood, Wynonna Judd, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and Alabama…again, too many to name.
In 1992, the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series against the Atlanta Braves, and the Washington Redskins beat the Buffalo Bills 37-24 in Super Bowl XXVI. The NBA champions were the Chicago Bulls, while Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf triumphed in the men and women’s individual finals at Wimbledon. The Alabama Crimson Tide captured the NCAA football championship that year, and Duke claimed the honors for basketball. Tom Kite won the US Open in golf, while a sixteen year old Tiger Woods became the youngest PGA golfer in thirty-five years.
The Winter Olympics were held that year in Albertville, France with Kristi Yamaguchi winning gold in the Women’s Figure Skating.
Woody Allen, age fifty-six, and long-term partner, Mia Farrow, split after she discovered his secret affair with her adopted daughter, age twenty-one. Princess Diana and Prince Charles separated and later divorced shortly after his affair with long time love Camilla Parker-Bowles was revealed. And sadly, comedian Sam Kinison died when his car was hit by a drunk driver.
The cost of a new house in 1992 averaged around $122,500, while incomes ran about $30,030. An average monthly rent was $519, and the cost of a gallon of gas was $1.05. The average cost of a new car hit $16,950 and a pound of bacon was $1.92. A first class stamp could be purchased for twenty-nine cents.
Higher Education Amendments added FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid). Also the Direct Lending project and unsubsidized Stafford loans were established, allowing more students to attend college on financial aid.
Minivans had made the scene and were referred to as “the soccer mom vehicle,” and the top selling cars were Ford Taurus, Honda Accord, and the Toyota Camry. The fastest car tested that year was the Ferrari F40 at 197 MPH.
Michael made the top of the baby boy list that year, with Christopher coming in second. Ashley won the female honors with Jessica following.
~~~
All eight of the BAGs had married at one time or another over the past twenty years. Some had actually stayed married…to the same person. Most had kids, some had made careers out of their actual college degrees, while others worked to provide a second income. Starter homes often morphed into something on a much grander scale, and a large part of life revolved around the family. Some personality traits, values, and prejudices had changed over the years. Some of the women matured graciously; others…not so much.
The freshman year pact the BAGs had made to never lose touch didn’t hold up too well after the first ten years. Life just…happened….
~~~
Disclaimer:
(same as before, but bears repeating)
The stages listed below are taken from
Erik Erikson’s Eight Stages of Man
,
Dr. C. George Boeree’s Personal Theory on
The Eight Stages of Man,
along with some
additions from Wikipedia.
Stage of Development 6: Intimacy vs Isolation
(Ages 20-39+)
Basic Virtue: Love
Dr. Boeree’s theory says:
“Our society hasn’t done much for young adults, either. The emphasis on careers, the isolation of urban living, the splitting apart of relationships because of our need for mobility and the general impersonal nature of modern life prevent people from naturally developing their intimate relationships.
I am typical of many people in having moved dozens of times in my life. I haven’t the faintest idea what has happened to the kids I grew up with, or even my college buddies. My oldest friend lives a thousand miles away. I live where I do out of career necessity and, until recently, have felt no real sense of community.”
Dr. Boeree continues:
“If you successfully negotiate this stage, you will instead carry with you for the rest of your life the virtue or psychosocial strength Erikson calls love.
Love, in the context of his theory, means being able to put aside differences and antagonisms through ‘mutuality of devotion’. It includes not only the love we find in a good marriage, but the love between friends and the love of one’s neighbor, co-worker, and compatriot as well.”
Chapter 13
The BAGs – 1992
Janie had reluctantly moved back home with June and Ward when she dropped out after her second year at Sam. She landed a job with Southwestern Bell, and before too much time with the Cleavers, moved into a quaint duplex in the Heights. Her parents even bought her a slightly used metallic blue Chevrolet Impala.
After some time on her own and with no one to regulate her eating habits, she realized, once again, she was on the wrong end of the scales. Shopping at Lane Bryant had gotten old, so back she went to Weight Watchers. The same forty-five pounds she’d been juggling since high school rolled off again. In 1976 she married Matt Russo, also a Southwestern Bell employee. Buddy had long dropped off her emotional radar, although she did occasionally think about him, especially when she ran across his dog tags she kept in a small box in one of her dresser drawers.
She and Matt had two sons, Chase and Marcus, and lived a busy and relatively normal life…or so she thought. Now, sixteen years later, she was not the happy camper she used to be. The excessive poundage she’d lost when they first got together started creeping its way back. Actually, that should have been a sign. She had always been an emotional eater, whether her brain believed it or not. Something was blipping on her emotional radar, but headquarters wasn’t paying attention.
“I’m twice the woman I used to be,” she’d say to Matt. They’d both smile, but Janie didn’t find it particularly amusing and could tell Matt didn’t either.
~~~
“She’s what? Allison, you’re breaking up.” Without thinking, Janie grabbed an ice cream sandwich from the freezer. “Something about Denise? Is she sick again?” Wedging the cordless phone between her shoulder and pudgy cheek, she ripped open the frozen treat and took a bite. “Let me go outside. The reception in the house sucks.”
She stepped through the French doors onto the patio. “Okay, start again.” After a few minutes of silence on Janie’s end as she heard the report from Allison, she dropped the ice cream sandwich and grabbed her forehead with her spare hand, as if trying to keep her frontal cortex from spilling out. “Denise is what? No! No, no, no, no. She can’t be dead! Oh God, Allison, tell me it was a dream, anything! I’m freaking out here. I didn’t know! I didn’t know.”
Several more minutes of heartfelt exchanges took place between the two.
“Good idea. We’ll call in the troops.” Janie pulled a Kleenex from her pocket and wiped her nose before dropping down into a patio chair. “You’re right.” She couldn’t steady her voice. “Time to get the BAGs back together.”
“How are we ever going to find Piper?” was the first thing that popped into Janie’s head. For all she knew, Piper could be under some rock out in the desert. Or worse, dead also. Janie blew out relief when Allison said she’d worry about that one. Dealing with Piper had never been her strong suit.
“Of course.” Janie pulled herself up out of the chair, finding it hard to sit still. “The bayhouse. Yes, we’ll meet there.”
“I know.” Janie stared at her feet, fresh tears stinging her eyes. “It was the last place we were all together.”
~~~
That conversation had taken place an hour ago. After hanging up with Allison, Janie had moved inside and remained in the same curled-up ball on the couch, drowning in guilt, sadness, and shock. The first ten years they’d met once a year. Then kids, marriage, little league games, dance recitals, swim teams, divorces…all had diffused the Bad-Ass-Girl pact the eight of them had made their freshman year at Sam.
“Sweet, sweet Denise.” Once again the tears surfaced. “Gone.”
She’d been the sickly one of the eight, catching the slightest thing in the air when they were in school, always in the health clinic getting medicine for something. Then in the late seventies she had been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer, which seemed even weirder because Denise had never smoked. She endured all the awful treatments, lost her hair, the whole bit. They’d all been back in touch then.
The BAGs didn’t meet that often anymore, and even when they did Denise had missed a couple of get-togethers. The last time they met up in 1982, Denise had been cautiously optimistic, announcing she had been cancer-free for fourteen months. There had been a big hullabaloo down on the beach that night, complete with a celebratory bonfire.
“And now she’s gone.”
Allison had said Suzanne was taking Denise’s death really hard. She could only imagine. Denise and Suzanne had been childhood friends just like her, Dena, and Frannie. Inseparable. She unfurled her rotund self from the couch, washed down the ice cream sandwich mess off the patio, pulled out a box of Thin Mints, and remembered she needed to call Dena and Frannie. This was
not
going to be easy. She placed a three-way call…she couldn’t imagine having to repeat the story twice. The three of them talked and cried for over an hour.
“How did we let this happen? We did so good for what, ten years?” Frannie’s nasal voice sounded like she had been pinching her nose instead of crying uncontrollably. “She’d been in remission for about a year the last time we were together, right?”
“Fucking lung cancer.” Dena sounded like she could bite through metal.
“Dena!” both Frannie and Janie harped.
“Well, deal with it.” Dena huffed. “That sweet thing didn’t even smoke.”
“She did have a cigarette every time she had to get us back in at curfew.” Janie had finished half the box of Thin Mints.
“I hardly think that’s enough to give her fu….” Dena paused. “Cancer.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Frannie said. “Giving Denise an occasional reason to smoke a cigarette doesn’t make me feel as guilty as us not staying in touch.”
“We’re a bunch of low-class morons,” Dena fumed. “Shame on us.”
“Stop it, I feel bad enough.” Frannie blew her nose, causing Janie to pull her ear away from the phone. “We’ll do it. We’ll get together for Denise.”
“So, we’re on? Two weeks from this weekend? Everybody’s calendar clear?” Janie ran her tongue around her upper teeth, working to dislodge bits of mint cream and chocolate.
“Allison taking care of the others? What about Piper?” Dena asked.
“Yeah, she said she’d take care of Piper, whatever that means.” Janie half-chuckled. “I got you guys. And Suzanne’s not a problem, but Allison’s gotta deal with Piper and Regina.”
“Tell Allison I’ll help if she has a problem with either of those two hellions,” Dena said. “Never mind, give me her number, I’ll call her myself.”