Chicago’s 1967 Big Snow and My Unexpected Love Affair, at 16!
By Robert M. Katzman © January 14, 2018 (Updated January 27, 2023)
Close to sixty years ago on January 27, 1967, the “Big Snow” buried Chicago and I was trapped at my older sister Bonnie’s house because she had a college party and invited me, reluctantly. I was 16 and useless around girls. Shy and clueless. I was so square that I brought some poetry I wrote with me to read in case anyone wanted to hear it. Girls my age weren’t interested at all.
There were maybe 30 people there, half college men. They lived nearby and would have to leave after a while.
The remaining 15 girls were from out-of-town and were going to sleep wherever they fell, I guess.
I did read my poetry after a couple of hours went by and was amazed that the girls listened and asked me to read some more.
One time-stopping girl in particular. Damn!
A little later, all the lights went out.
Soft music was playing on the phonograph, same song, My Love, by Pet Clark, over and over and over.
People were pairing up and dancing in the dark.
I was sitting alone on the carpet like a third wheel when that same girl came over and asked me, Mr Cool, if I wanted to dance.
I looked up. An older woman, 18.
Tall, long strawberry blonde hair, slender, too beautiful to talk to Bonnie’s little brother.
Embarrassed (and dumb) I told her I didn’t know how to dance.
She told me to just put my arms around her and move a little, in the darkness. I did that.
After a while, there were couples lying on the floor and I was worried I’d trip over some of them.
When we were the (actual) last couple standing, she asked me if I wanted to neck.
Stunned, I managed to NOT say I had never done that before, but by then, she knew a lot about me, I guess.
Since I used to live in that house, I took her up to my old room, which still had a bed.
And a door, too. Ok, I wasn’t totally hopeless.
(and here I am lost in this dream…)
*
I learned a lot that night.
I learned how good a girl
Can smell when she is
Really, really close to you
*
Oh, and the thing about kissing
Is that the more you do it
Especially
With a little help
From the other person
A guy can get better and better at it
And other things, too
*
So, trapped by the massive Big Snow
I stayed in Bonnie’s house for three days
Spending every second
With that stunning woman
72 hours seemed like
Just five minutes
Until she had to go back
To Southern Illinois
*
Except by then
I was hopelessly in love
With suave and tall Miss Perfect
Who knew everything about
Making a shy kid feel more confident
*
Never saw her again
Half a century later, she remains eternally…18
Don’t even think about her anymore
Except if its snowing at night in January
Or not snowing at night in January
Yeah, she’s forgotten, all right
*
Hey, Snowflake!
Where the hell are you now?
Yes, magic exists
Maybe desperation and acute loneliness
Appear on certain women’s wave-lengths
Maybe compassion and lust
I have no idea
*
Women are the Great Unknown
With invisible powers to
Attract whom they desire
I was the naive moth
Flying to her luminescence
Surrendering.
An old Grampa’s heartache
about the one who got away.
*
She’s still the older woman now
Except I’m almost 73
I guess she’s, oh…75
Damn it, I was so crazy about that girl
Damn!
***********************
Publishing News!
Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him!
Vol. One: A Savage Heart and Vol. Two: Fighting Words
Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history and about one man’s life than a person may imagine.
Please visit my new website: http://www.dontgoquietlypress.com
If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.
Send me a money order with your return and contact info.
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Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:
Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words
My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.
Robert M. Katzman
Don’t Go Quietly Press
PO Box 44287
Racine, Wis. 53404-9998 (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM
Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping
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