Kay’s
yearbook entry was:
"Max,
To a real sharp guy and real swinging kid.
Remember the wild party at Ruth's and our
'spin the bottle' game.
Good luck in everything you do - you deserve it.
Be Good,
Kay"
Ruth
Bailey’s parents were gone somewhere one weekend and she decided to invite
several of us local Mills kids to a party at her house. Ruth also had 2 brothers
and 5 sisters and I have no recollection of where they were that night.
There
may have been 7 or 8 or more of us invited to the party but unfortunately the
only ones I remember are Ruth, Kay Carrigan and myself (of course).
One
of the highlights (lowlights…?) of the evening was a party album called
‘Knockers Up’ by a nightclub
At
some point later in the evening, someone suggested a game of spin the bottle.
The game started out with fairly random spins and just quick kisses but as the
game proceeded, people started trying to control the spin of the bottle to land
on a particular person either by trying to judge how hard to spin or, more
successfully, an ‘accidental’ slip of a toe or hand that might reach out to
stop the bottle at the appropriate target.
I
suspect that I did my best to aim the bottle at Ruth because I knew and liked
her the most but the kisses that Kay returned seemed to last a little longer
each time and I started concentrating my bottle spin towards her. Anyway, not too long after that, we
stopped using the bottle as an excuse and those of us who could, paired off and
went to the nearest cozy corner, bedroom, couch and in the my case, a reclining
easy chair.
In
addition to my unrequited affection for Ruth, another reason that Kay wasn’t
my first choice is that, although she was real cute, she was also about half a
head taller than I was. In the heat of the moment though, I must have thrown my
stupid prejudice to the wind and decided that when you are curled up in a
reclining chair to make out, it’s a lot harder for people to tell if you are
too tall or too short.
To
my eternal discredit, in the cold light of day, I’m afraid that my “tall
girl/short boy” phobia did catch up with me. Although we didn’t start to go ‘steady’, over the next week or so
we did sit together on the bus each day on the way to school and could
occasionally be seen holding hands or walking the halls together between
classes.
Anyway,
as I said, the anxiety of walking the halls with a girl that I had to look up at
to talk to eventually bothered me enough that, rather than confront her
directly, one day I left her a ‘Dear Kay’ note. I must have gotten lucky and said the
right things in the right way or it could just be that she was feeling some of
the same “short boy/tall girl” feelings as I was. She seemed to take it well
and, as you can see by the yearbook note above, we remained friends.
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John "Elmer" Carrigan
John Elmer Carrigan, 86, of Midland, died Sunday, January 1, 2006, at the MidMichigan Medical Center. He was born on July 26, 1919 in Hope, son of the late Ed and Ida (Clark) Carrigan. He attended Edenville Schools, graduating from high school there. John married the former Sarah Inez (Thomas) on December 5, 1939 in Covington, Kentucky. He served with the U. S. Navy during World War II, serving in the South Pacific. Elmer worked at The Dow Chemical Company before the war and for Collinson Construction Company after the war. He enjoyed hunting, ice fishing, and just being out of doors. He is survived by his wife Inez; two sons, Tom and Linda Carrigan of Troy and James Carrigan of Madison Heights; one daughter, Kay and Lanny Lander of Nashville, Tennessee; three grandchildren, Kelly (Brent) Battiata, Mark (Heather) Carrigan and Sarah Lander; three great grandchildren, twins, Autumn and Brooke and Dominic Battiata; one brother, Ed Carigan Jr. of Midland; two sisters, Mae McNett and Pat Dowker, both of Midland; one sister-in-law, Millie Carrigan of Florida. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by one brother Ralph Carrigan, two sisters, Dorothy Bowman and Lee Quirk, sister-in-law Donnie Carigan; and four brothers-in-law, Ed McNett, Jack Dowker, Harold Bowman and Tom Quirk.
-SERVICES-
Funeral services will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday, January 5, 2006, from the Ware-Smith-Woolever Funeral Chapel, 1200 West Wheeler Street. Pastor Fred Becknell of the Midland Missionary Church will officiate with burial in New Hope Cemetery.
-VISITATION-
Elmer’s family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday, January 4, 2006, from 2-4 & 6-8 p.m. and on Thursday from 10 a.m. until time of service.
-MEMORIALS-
Those planning an expression of sympathy are asked to consider the charity of their choice.
-MILITARY HONORS-
Full military honors will be presented by the Midland Area Veterans and the U. S. Department of the Navy.