This was a time of my life when I wasn’t yet a man but I was also no longer a boy. Sure, I still caught fireflies with my hands whenever the evening sun was setting on my youth. I might even chase down the ice cream truck when it made the rounds through our neighborhood, and my friends all knew to head home whenever the street lights came on at dusk. If me and my neighborhood buddies weren’t riding skateboards, I was probably cruising around on my bicycle because I was still a year away from being able to drive my mom’s Vega legally with my very own driver's license. Since me and my friends all had bikes, that was the most efficient way for us to get around the ‘hood. Most days I’d find where the usual suspects were by noticing a pile of bicycles similar to mine, scattered in someone's front yard. That meant my friends were most likely somewhere nearby playing a game of basketball in a convenient driveway, or they might be hanging out after school in someone's basement.
Since it was October it wasn’t unusual to find ourselves tossing the ol’ pigskin around. One of our favorite spots to play a game of football was a place we called Caldwell’s Field. The Caldwell family lived halfway down Vaughn Street, one street over from my parent’s house. This space was between my street and theirs and sat on the county line that bisected our neighborhood as well as the entire town of Greer.
One interesting fact I’ve learned about my town’s illusory line that separates Greenville and Spartanburg counties is that it exists the way it does due to 18th century colonial surveying practices. In 1763, nearly two centuries before I was born, the Treaty of Charles Town was signed between the local Cherokee tribe of Native Americans and the British government. That same year, the Treaty of Augusta created the Catawba Indian Reservation, making it the second Native Reservation established in America. As a part of that treaty, the Catawbas were given a 225 square mile plot of land along the Catawba River. That parcel of land was a gift to the Catawbas for their part in the French and Indian War. Their new Reservation was diamond shaped and the northeast corner is the part that bordered the Catawba River. The problem was there was no proper documentation as to where the new Reservations northernmost boundary was located relative to any of the known boundaries in existence back then. That’s when Lord William Tryon, the infamous Royal Governor of North Carolina, decided to establish that nebulous boundary himself. Tryon decided to create a line due north from a point that had been established by the Treaty of Charles Town. That borderline ran straight to North Carolina and became the present day line that separates Greenville and Spartanburg counties. The part of this process that Lord Tryon failed to accomplish was he also decreed that the land east of this new line, all the way to the newly established Catawba Reservation, belonged to North Carolina. This area included Spartanburg county in entirety as well as a part of Cherokee county. South Carolina immediately protested and the ensuing court battle, which lasted seven years, went all the way to the high courts in London. The court’s subsequent ruling gave all the land in question back to South Carolina but kept the new county line intact. Lord Tryon’s fabricated line is the one that still separates Vaughn Street from the road on which I lived for most of my youth.
Several of my neighborhood friends also lived on Vaughn Street along with the Caldwell family. It was in the Caldwell’s backyard where we often congregated. Their property was larger since they also owned an empty lot that separated their yard from that of an adjacent neighbor, which made their backyard twice as big as anyone else's. What made it even more special was the Caldwells always welcomed us to play there. Since the lower portion of their backyard was a rather large, entirely level fenced in rectangle, it was perfect for a game of football.
Of all my neighborhood friends with whom I was close, I found myself playing with Jimmy most often since he was the closest match to me physically. We were both athletic but he outweighed me by a few pounds and was an inch or two taller. Jimmy was also about five months older than me and we were always in the same grade at school. So anytime we chose teams with the other neighborhood kids, he and I would almost always be the two opposing captains. Jimmy was also one of the guys who rode skateboards with me most often. While it was my good friend Keith who I’d eventually skate with the most over the span of our lifetime, Jimmy and I, for whatever reason, skated together the most back in ‘77. Part of that was due to our current skateboard ramp being close to where Jimmy lived. There was also a driveway on the other end of his street that was extremely smooth. While most homes had rough asphalt driveways, the one at the Hix’s house was made of satiny concrete. Their driveway was unrivaled for practicing our skateboarding tricks since its surface was perfectly flat. Even better, the Hix’s, like the Caldwell’s, didn’t seem to mind us hanging out there. Looking back, I realize how fortunate we were to have such generous neighbors. Had either of those families not allowed me to play on their property, I’m certain my life could have taken a different trajectory.
There’s one distinct memory of playing pick-up football at Caldwell’s Field that fall. It’s a recollection that stands out among all the rest. It was a Sunday afternoon during October of that year. The weather was cool enough by then that the mosquitoes were no longer bothersome. Early mornings and late evenings usually called for a sweatshirt and jeans. Since it was autumn, it was officially football weather. Jimmy and I, as expected, were quarterbacks for our respective teams. There were probably another half-dozen kids from the neighborhood who played games of tackle football with us on those irresistible autumn afternoons. There might be another half-dozen hanging around who didn’t play, so they’d sit on the swing set and watch us pubescent boys lock horns.
This memory wasn’t significant because the game was some contentious nail-biter or because there was some spectacular play that stood out. And it wasn’t because someone got banged up, although it seems there was always someone getting hurt, even if it was just their feelings. What made that Sunday so much more significant than all the others is because it was the day I discovered girls. To be specific, it was the day I discovered one girl in particular.
As I was coming out of my team's huddle, I saw two young ladies walking towards Caldwell’s Field and I realized that they both appeared to be about my age. I stopped whatever it was I was supposed to be doing and stared at them as they strolled towards us. I quickly recognized that the girl on the right was Toni who lived up the street. I didn’t know her very well, at least not yet. All I knew was she was a year younger than me and went to our high school. I still didn’t know she went to church with Jimmy.
That afternoon, as those two lovely teenage girls walked directly towards Caldwell’s Field, my recognition of Toni occurred in the matter of a few brief seconds. It’s what happened next that’s forever etched in my mind’s eye because the other girl changed everything. I didn’t know it yet, but her name was Alison. I’m not saying it was love at first sight, but I definitely felt something I’d never experienced before and it’s still somewhat ethereal to me. It was like in the movies when someone sees someone else and everything goes into slow motion. That’s how I remember that moment, like the world slowed on its axis as if it had suddenly been thrown into a lower, slower gear.
Alison’s long, brown, wavy hair was flowing in tempo with the faint breeze that hung in the crisp October air. She had a bounce to her step and I recall vividly how she smiled that smile of hers.
I don’t know how long I stood there, gawking at those alluring young ladies. As I was trying to keep up with everything happening in that moment, one of my younger teammates did something to remind me we had business at hand. So we kept playing football as I tried not to act like I was acutely aware of those winsome girls who had magically appeared out of nowhere. Toni & Alison sat calmly on the cinderblock wall that ran the length of the field on which we were playing. I could occasionally hear them chatting to one another as they watched me and my friends cavort like our schoolboy selves. Their conversation was indiscernible, but I now know the gist of their discussion that Sunday afternoon. I know because Alison eventually told me.
Alison had gone to church with Toni earlier that day. She’d also planned to go home with Toni and her parents following the morning’s worship services at Greer First Baptist. Afterwards, at Toni’s house following their customary Sunday lunch, Toni let Alison know there were some boys their age that usually hung out at the field behind the Caldwell’s house. So they mosied down the street a couple of blocks until they would have easily heard me and my neighborhood buddies playing ball. As Toni & Alison sat on that cinderblock wall they were concocting their plan. Toni had told Alison that she liked Jimmy. Unbeknownst to me, Alison said she liked the looks of the blonde-headed friend of his, which would be yours truly. Prior to that moment, if there had been another time in my life where someone had intentionally singled me out as their best option, I was not aware. But the crazy thing about fate is that it doesn’t need our permission.
I can’t recall how much longer we played as the sun hung over us just enough to make our skin feel warm in the brisk autumn air, but at some point our afternoon game of football came to its inevitable conclusion. A few of mine and Jimmy’s playmates then ran off, having already decided the next thing on their agenda, while others ambled about. A few of the remaining stragglers consisted of the afternoon’s victors boasting of their greatness, while the losers repined over what could have been.
Then Jimmy and I began walking towards Toni & Alison as they sat on that wall. Normally, the realization I was about to talk to two young ladies my own age would most likely result in some awkwardness on my part. I lacked the compulsory sophistication to be adept in these social situations and tended to commit the occasional catachresis because I’d try too hard. It wasn’t that I was completely inept, but I was devoid of the practical experience required to feel self-assured whenever I found myself around a girl my own age. I eventually learned to let others do the talking while I listened attentively. There was a part of me that usually wanted to say something, but I was more concerned I’d say the wrong thing so I taught myself to not say much of anything, at least no more than was absolutely necessary.
That Sunday afternoon it was Jimmy who spoke first as Toni and Alison both responded to his overtures. What I quickly figured out was he already knew both of them from church. Since Jimmy and I never spoke about religion or his related activities, the subject of his church acquaintances never came up. What that provided for him was something I didn’t have with these two young ladies, which was common ground. I also found out Alison was a freshman at a neighboring high school and that she lived in Taylors, which bordered Greer to the west. She was also about nine months younger than me.
The afternoon sun was now hovering above the tops of the pine trees that were to Toni and Alison’s back. They took turns telling stories about others they knew from church. I knew, or knew of, most of those individuals since they went to Greer High School. The four of us laughed a lot and it all seemed as though it were happening effortlessly.
The next thing I knew we were tossing my football around Caldwell’s Field. It quickly became apparent that Toni and Alison both were athletic. In the coming years Toni would play tennis for our high school. Alison, it seemed, was good at everything and was the closest thing to a true tomboy that I’d ever met. She was a member of her high school track team and enjoyed playing basketball & baseball. She even liked to go fishing, which made her perfect as far as I was concerned.
What became obvious, at least to me, was that we got along famously. Not only did we hang out together the rest of the afternoon, I began to feel more comfortable adding some color to our collective conversation. I’d never been around girls my age for such a long period of time. Being in the presence of Toni & Alison was uniquely different. I began to feel like I had known them forever. However, it was Alison for whom I felt some primordial urge tugging at my emotions. It was a new sensation for me, to feel as if I liked someone so much solely because of how they made me feel when I was in their presence.
Before my two new friends made their trek back to Toni’s house, as the sun began its migration behind the distant pine trees to the west, the four of us pledged to hang out more often, and we did. Over the coming weeks we reconnected at Caldwell’s Field on a few more Sunday afternoons. We exchanged phone numbers and concocted ways to meet up during the week so the four of us could do something fun. We’d play miniature golf or go to Tab’s Dairy Bar for ice cream. A year later, after I’d gotten my driver’s license, we would pile in my mom’s Vega and make the drive out to Table Rock and hike up to the overlook. By then the four of us had become inseparable. On those occasions when Jimmy couldn’t be there, usually because he was working, I’d hang out with Toni & Alison. The three of us would go swimming somewhere like the Colvin’s pool on Poinsett Street. The Colvin’s had the first inground pool in Greer and it was next door to Alison’s grandmother's house, which gave us access. This pool was notoriously cold, even in the sultry August heat, because it was very deep and shaded pretty much the entire day. Since this pool was always so frigid, none of us wanted to get in, even when it was a hundred degrees in the shade. So whenever we were headed to the Colvin’s that summer, we played a game to help motivate ourselves to jump into that pool. On the drive over we’d roll the windows up and turn the heat on full blast. By the time we pulled around their driveway into the shade of the backyard it would be sweltering inside the car. As our sweaty skin clung to the vinyl seats, we’d cajole each other to pull the door latch and jump out first. The way we played this game of chicken was that once the loser became the first person to throw in the towel and jump out of the car’s oven-like interior, the other two were free to make a beeline for the respite of the pool’s icy-cold water.
While I occasionally did things with only Toni & Alison, I almost never did anything with Alison alone. The sole exception was the time she and I went fishing on Frohawk Creek. But the only reason it was just the two of us was because Jimmy and Toni refused to go. So other than that one time, she and I never went anywhere else together, just the two of us. This was due to Jimmy being one of my best friends then and you didn’t do something behind your best friend's back, especially with their girlfriend. And that’s what happened. Within a few weeks of our initial encounter, Alison became Jimmy’s girlfriend. This occurred because he did something that took it to another level. One day, as the four of us were hanging out, Jimmy reached down with his right hand and grabbed Alison’s left hand. Just like that, they were a couple, which we all called ‘going steady’ back then. The two of them ended up dating all throughout high school while the four of us became inextricably connected for the next couple of years.
There were a few moments when Alison and I saw each other briefly, like the one time I took her some carnations after Jimmy had done something unkind on her sixteenth birthday. On another occasion she purchased and brought me a hardback edition of a favorite book, which was a sweet gesture. Oftentimes, she and I would talk on the phone after an argument she’d had with her boyfriend over something silly. I always reassured her Jimmy didn’t mean whatever it was that had fueled their differences. I always tried to have his back since he was my friend.
Nevertheless, I still found myself adoring Alison. I didn’t indiscriminately fawn over her incessantly or anything like that. My adoration for her was due to many things. Truthfully, there wasn’t much about her I didn’t like. In the coming years, as I daydreamed about my life ten years out, twenty years out, I’d imagine what my own family might be like. In my head I knew I wanted to find someone like Alison. Someone who made me feel the way she did would be the kind of person I could envision myself with for the rest of our lives. I was spot on about eventually finding that person. What I didn’t know then was that the individual whom I’d fall head over heels in love with and one day marry, would actually be Alison.
There were others who recognized Alison and I had a special connection. My close friend, neighbor and fellow skateboarding enthusiast, Keith, who happened to be Alison’s cousin, would later tell me he knew. Of Alison’s many relatives he was one of her favorites. Keith eventually told me, years later, that he’d often tell Alison that she and I would end up together.
By the time we were all in our early twenties, my bond with Alison had become so strong we’d never even had a disagreement of any type. We were inseparable and eventually realized we were destined to be together because we were in love. It was absolute and magical and perfect in every way.
Some of my relationships with friends I’ve met along the way have seemed ephemeral but the relationship I have with Alison has been the one that has survived the seasons. Four children and several grandsons later we’re still laughing our way through life. No, it hasn't always been easy because sometimes we’re our own worst enemies. Nevertheless, at the end of the day I know she’s the one, and I find great comfort in knowing she feels the same about me.
Looking back, I realize that all I ever dreamed of was having someone else to want me as much as I wanted them. I don’t think I needed them to long for me or yearn for me. They wouldn’t need to pine for my affection. They only needed to let me know they truly cared about me and my well being. That’s it, that’s all I ever really wanted. Thanks to a fortuitous encounter at a field nestled along the county line in my hometown, not too far from where I slept most nights, that dream came true.
© 2023 Joseph Phillip Lister Sr.
Click here to go to the next chapter.