Chapter 10

For me, my birthday was no big deal. Mom made a cake with sixteen candles which she brought out after dinner. They all sang happy birthday, I made a special wish and blew out the candles.

Now that I was sixteen, I was able to get a part-time job. In our area there were two types of part-time jobs; retail or the food industry. I chose the food industry, specifically as a waitress. I worked in a local family restaurant, the base pay was low, but the tips were good. The clientele tended to get in and get out as fast as they could which meant that the turnover of tables was high. With my old man's mind and my young girl's body, I knew when and how to get the biggest tips. I was not ashamed to flirt with a group of single guys, unbutton one more button on my uniform and bend over to take their order. Or provide extra fast service to a family with three kids all under the age of ten. I was always happy and smiling, I even helped carry out large orders for the other waitresses.

More important to me was that in two days, we were going to have our first track meet. I was really nervous before the meet. This was the first time in either life that I had ever competed against anyone, other than in practice. Fortunately, it was a home meet so there were some friendly faces in the stands. My brother Jack had stayed for the meet. I could hear him from across the field shouting when it was time for my first throw in the shot putt. I guess I shouldn't have been so nervous; my toss was fifteen feet further than my competition. I beat the same girl in the discus a half hour later and a different girl by twenty feet in the javelin. The competition in the field events in women's track and field is pretty thin, very few girls spend most of their time weight lifting and fewer still are as strong as I am.

When I exited the locker room, after showering and changing, I was greeted by Jack.

"Way to go sis; that was awesome."

"Thanks Jack, and thanks for coming out to support me, it means a lot. I think we have a problem, however, how are we going to get home?"

"No problem, come on."

We walked out the door, and there in the parking lot was my Dad. He had taken an hour off to come and watch me compete. At that moment I could have cried. I got a big hug and a kiss. I climbed in the back and saw my Mom sitting in the front seat. Now I was crying.

Friday, I was told that I had beaten the school records in each event. I was now the record holder. Tom, saw me in the hall, and practically crushed me with his congratulatory hug. Then, put me down, a little embarrassed over what he had done. I kissed him on the cheek,

"Thanks Coach, it was all because I had a great teacher."

That was the way the rest of the school year went. With each meet we had, I got just a tiny bit better. We had the best record of any high school in the conference and placed third in the state. Best of all, I had scouts from several universities with large track and field programs coming to give me a quick look. I would get more attention the closer I got to graduating. I felt that I could finally relax a little bit as far as Anne's future was concerned. There was direction, purpose and endless opportunities ahead for her.