I was just talking about Brett Kavanaugh in therapy...
Just over a week ago, on September 9, my therapist and I were talking about this blog and about memories. I alluded that many memories came into play during the Kavanaugh hearings during the summer of 2018. As I discuss in my earlier blog, AIDS 1-Being a Junior, many of my premature "coming out" adventures occurred in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where Christine Blasey Ford visits her family at their vacation home each year. Ford specifically said she was in a Walgreens parking lot in Rehoboth discussing potentially testifying at one point and I have a visual in my head of that store and its location from many years ago, albeit I could be wrong, it's not a "hot spot" I just feel like I am certain I have been there.
Kavanaugh also vacationed in Delaware and Ocean City, MD. He was accused of misconduct in Ocean City, MD during Beach Week but it was never investigated, and brought to surface later by attorney Michael Avenatti. So, while I may still believe there could be truth in the story, the messenger lacks credibility. I do recall being with my Mother's goddaughter and her sister, visiting the East Coast for the 1st time from LA (or had they moved to San Diego already?) and another friend and going to a party in Ocean City the summer they visited. We must have been invited with the friend we went with who I knew in Bethany Beach, where we had our places and where Brett's good friend from school Mark Judge was found hiding from the Senate during the hearings. The apartment was old. It was a group of guys renting it for the summer and at least a couple were life guards I believe. I know a few at the party were football players and I want to say some, at least, from Georgetown Prep, the school Brett Kavanaugh attended. The evening started as great fun; drinking beers, playing quarters, just like Bret. We also played this game that I wonder if Brett played. I can't remember the name, but you take a credit card and hold it to your mouth sucking it in while the next person takes from you sucking it off hoping not to miss and end up sucking face with you.
Somewhere in the evening things turned, at least for me, and one of the football bullies got into my face, shoved me against a wall, ripped my new Benetton shirt in half (this was a big deal in the late 80s). Alex (my friend) and the girls must have stepped in and pulled me away. I remember being absolutely enraged. I came home and wanted to go back with a baseball bat; only we just had tennis rackets at our place in the "tennis community." The girls suggested that it was a really bad idea. Never mind I had a bloody nose, which means I was hit in the face and seldom got bloody noses. The fact that I wasn't even feeling the pain in my face and I was raging meant I was shit-faced as well as irrational. Driving some 20 miles back to Ocean City was the last thing I should be doing. Alex and the girls weren't volunteering to go with me again and there were probably a dozen guys to kick the shit out of by my then 125 pound being.
Whether that night there were any kids there from Georgetown Prep is irrelevant. Just about everyone from Baltimore & Washington went "to the beach" in Delaware or Ocean City, MD. Over the 8 or 9 years I went to Bethany Beach, I met many from Georgetown Prep as I did from Holton-Arms, Sidwell Friends, Good Counsel, Calvert Hall and Roland Park in Baltimore, and the list goes on. Brett is 4 years older than me, so in theory our paths could have crossed but he was at Yale when I was entering high school. That doesn't mean I don't know what is Brett Kavanaugh. It seemed almost embarrassingly ridiculous to listen to Supreme court nomination hearings talk about playing quarters and slamming beers and "blackouts" but it is a reality of a large part of the GEN X generation. So is bullying, lying, doing whatever it takes to get you want to get ahead. Take no prisoners. Have no regrets.
My brother is 4 years younger than me. He was a football player and all his friends had stupid nicknames too... Christopher was "Saint" as in St.Genis. They worked hard on that and he was far from it. He named his one cat the same name, once again digging deep.
Like anything, the more money you had determined the size. location and length of time you tended to spend at the beach over the summer and whether you owned or rented.
Let's say I had some reason to find out who did this to me. If I sat and dug deep, I could probably give a more detailed recount. I know how to find Alex. He is still in DC metro and works as a successful journalist. It would not be too hard to find my Mother's goddaughter and her sister. Despite that we as a generation didn't have smartphones, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook accounts, I just happen to have pictures from that evening, including of all 3 I just mentioned and of some of the bullies, at least in the background. I could put those photos into this post, but that is just stirring the bottom of a burnt pot. I'd only be potentially upsetting, more likely embarrassing and worse case damaging people whom I wish no harm for stupid things we did in the 80s. All of them certainly would remember me. I can't guarantee they would remember being at that party, that night. I wonder if any of them have any idea where it was; most likely the 2 girls from California certainly did not as I couldn't tell you where in Ocean City other than it was on the Bay side or inland not oceanfront. Ocean City is a city... I am not 100% sure there might not have been another friend with us. Did we come in more than 1 car? Who were all the other people? They certainly aren't likely to remember me 30+ years later. How many people saw the incident occur anyway? How many remembered the next morning let alone now?
We are talking a relatively minor teenage fight; not nearly the accusations that Dr. Ford brought against Brett Kavanaugh. As I go on this journey recounting my GEN X life, I realize that while certain things stick firmly in your mind, other details disappear, whether positive or negative experiences. I can recall the girl with whom I had my first kiss in 6th grade at Orchard Lake Middle School, Teri at a school dance, but I can't remember what song was playing (pick something from 1980) and I really don't know how she became my date initially. I also remember the 2 men, in separate incidents, one more than one time, who sexually molested me that same school year, in detail, though I am sure I would be missing some pieces of the story, some subconsciously, some because your interpretation of things at 12 are different at 50 (things I thought were hills in Michigan are minor inclines, as a simple example). There is so much yet to be told...
How I loved that white and green Benetton shirt...
DelMar beaches highlighted in Kavanaugh hearings
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/25/how-world-is-mark-judge-not-testifying/
Rehoboth Beach, DE Boardwalk
Kavanaugh also vacationed in Delaware and Ocean City, MD. He was accused of misconduct in Ocean City, MD during Beach Week but it was never investigated, and brought to surface later by attorney Michael Avenatti. So, while I may still believe there could be truth in the story, the messenger lacks credibility. I do recall being with my Mother's goddaughter and her sister, visiting the East Coast for the 1st time from LA (or had they moved to San Diego already?) and another friend and going to a party in Ocean City the summer they visited. We must have been invited with the friend we went with who I knew in Bethany Beach, where we had our places and where Brett's good friend from school Mark Judge was found hiding from the Senate during the hearings. The apartment was old. It was a group of guys renting it for the summer and at least a couple were life guards I believe. I know a few at the party were football players and I want to say some, at least, from Georgetown Prep, the school Brett Kavanaugh attended. The evening started as great fun; drinking beers, playing quarters, just like Bret. We also played this game that I wonder if Brett played. I can't remember the name, but you take a credit card and hold it to your mouth sucking it in while the next person takes from you sucking it off hoping not to miss and end up sucking face with you.
Somewhere in the evening things turned, at least for me, and one of the football bullies got into my face, shoved me against a wall, ripped my new Benetton shirt in half (this was a big deal in the late 80s). Alex (my friend) and the girls must have stepped in and pulled me away. I remember being absolutely enraged. I came home and wanted to go back with a baseball bat; only we just had tennis rackets at our place in the "tennis community." The girls suggested that it was a really bad idea. Never mind I had a bloody nose, which means I was hit in the face and seldom got bloody noses. The fact that I wasn't even feeling the pain in my face and I was raging meant I was shit-faced as well as irrational. Driving some 20 miles back to Ocean City was the last thing I should be doing. Alex and the girls weren't volunteering to go with me again and there were probably a dozen guys to kick the shit out of by my then 125 pound being.
Whether that night there were any kids there from Georgetown Prep is irrelevant. Just about everyone from Baltimore & Washington went "to the beach" in Delaware or Ocean City, MD. Over the 8 or 9 years I went to Bethany Beach, I met many from Georgetown Prep as I did from Holton-Arms, Sidwell Friends, Good Counsel, Calvert Hall and Roland Park in Baltimore, and the list goes on. Brett is 4 years older than me, so in theory our paths could have crossed but he was at Yale when I was entering high school. That doesn't mean I don't know what is Brett Kavanaugh. It seemed almost embarrassingly ridiculous to listen to Supreme court nomination hearings talk about playing quarters and slamming beers and "blackouts" but it is a reality of a large part of the GEN X generation. So is bullying, lying, doing whatever it takes to get you want to get ahead. Take no prisoners. Have no regrets.
My brother is 4 years younger than me. He was a football player and all his friends had stupid nicknames too... Christopher was "Saint" as in St.Genis. They worked hard on that and he was far from it. He named his one cat the same name, once again digging deep.
Like anything, the more money you had determined the size. location and length of time you tended to spend at the beach over the summer and whether you owned or rented.
Let's say I had some reason to find out who did this to me. If I sat and dug deep, I could probably give a more detailed recount. I know how to find Alex. He is still in DC metro and works as a successful journalist. It would not be too hard to find my Mother's goddaughter and her sister. Despite that we as a generation didn't have smartphones, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook accounts, I just happen to have pictures from that evening, including of all 3 I just mentioned and of some of the bullies, at least in the background. I could put those photos into this post, but that is just stirring the bottom of a burnt pot. I'd only be potentially upsetting, more likely embarrassing and worse case damaging people whom I wish no harm for stupid things we did in the 80s. All of them certainly would remember me. I can't guarantee they would remember being at that party, that night. I wonder if any of them have any idea where it was; most likely the 2 girls from California certainly did not as I couldn't tell you where in Ocean City other than it was on the Bay side or inland not oceanfront. Ocean City is a city... I am not 100% sure there might not have been another friend with us. Did we come in more than 1 car? Who were all the other people? They certainly aren't likely to remember me 30+ years later. How many people saw the incident occur anyway? How many remembered the next morning let alone now?
We are talking a relatively minor teenage fight; not nearly the accusations that Dr. Ford brought against Brett Kavanaugh. As I go on this journey recounting my GEN X life, I realize that while certain things stick firmly in your mind, other details disappear, whether positive or negative experiences. I can recall the girl with whom I had my first kiss in 6th grade at Orchard Lake Middle School, Teri at a school dance, but I can't remember what song was playing (pick something from 1980) and I really don't know how she became my date initially. I also remember the 2 men, in separate incidents, one more than one time, who sexually molested me that same school year, in detail, though I am sure I would be missing some pieces of the story, some subconsciously, some because your interpretation of things at 12 are different at 50 (things I thought were hills in Michigan are minor inclines, as a simple example). There is so much yet to be told...
How I loved that white and green Benetton shirt...
DelMar beaches highlighted in Kavanaugh hearings
https://beta.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/09/25/how-world-is-mark-judge-not-testifying/
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