I must have spent 2 maybe 3 hours at our dining room table. Mom dumped a brand new package of cardboard Valentines in front of me. I had to find the perfect card for the newest girl of my dreams.
Definitely not the waddling duck, no romance there. Not the Puppy licking the Frog; that makes dogs slobber and foam at the mouth; and besides the frog looked a little like Jack Stafford. That's it! We've got to give cards to the guys in the class too, I'll give the frog card to Jack. I'll give all the corny cards to guys and the cute cards to girls; but the best card has to be for Gilda.
Gilda Walters wasn't the most beautiful girl ever but in my 5th Grade class she was special to me. I don't know when I noticed her, but she definitely had that something special. That gleam in her eye; that graceful skip in her step as she jumped rope; and a giggle that was intriguing to say the least and the way she could swipe up a whole hand full of Jacks and still catch the little rubber ball. Wow! She was talented too. This had to be my dream girl. I had to find the perfect card to let her know.
Not one with cats, I hate cats. I needed hearts and flowers, and special romantic stuff so she'd know exactly how I felt. I placed the one with waddling ducks on the bottom of the pile and went through the cards one by one. Not the Pony, I'll give that to Bill Shaver; he always sits and draws horses, he'll be a famous artist some day. And I am certainly NOT giving Gilda a Pig card, Max Edrington's Dad raises Pigs, he gets the pig card. We got our eggs from a lady that lived down the street from Glenn and Glenda Crabtree so Glenda gets the Chicken card, it's kinda cute but not too romantic. Don't want the wrong girl getting a wrong message here.
Mike Woodside and I played catch yesterday so he gets the Ball Glove card. I set the one with Honey Bees off to the side by itself. Pretty good but not special enough. There was an Apple tree in the background; I might give that to Mrs. Hollis our teacher and Principal. Nope, nope, nope, one by one the cards failed the test of True Love.
Then I saw it! Cupid with His Bow and Arrows. He was kinda chubby, but loveable. The girl he was shooting at had that same gleam in her eye. Yes! Gilda would get my message with this card. I doodled a Rose and a Heart next to my inscription. To Gilda from Larry. I had found the perfect expression of my Love. I stacked the cards carefully so I'd know who got which card, and made sure Gilda's special card was protected from getting a fold or a crease.
Valentines day came and Mrs. Hollis had the boys pass out their cards first. I gave Jack the Frog card and went around the room saving Gilda's card for last so it would be on top; I don't remember who got the waddling duck. Next it was the girl's turn to pass out their cards. My mind was on fire. Had she seen the rose and heart? Did she notice her special card? What card had she picked out especially for me?
Kay Bateman gave me the Bee Hive card. Jack interestingly enough had given me a frog card. Finally I saw Gilda walking toward my desk. She only had two cards in her hand. Bless her Heart she had saved a special card for me too. She looked at the two cards and handed me the one on the right, turned and I was sure I saw a special gleam in her eye before she returned to her desk.
I held the envelope to my chest, near my Heart, imagining the wonderful card inside. My heart was literally leaping as I opened the envelope and reached inside. It came out with the reverse side showing, I opened it and saw my name, just Larry; no rose or heart but she had written my name. My heart skipped at least one beat as I turned the card over. What could it be?
Then there it was! My heart collapsed! Misery engulfed me! It was the Waddling Duck.
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