Alicia Keeton
Saturday, November 29th, 2008
I first met Alicia Keeton when we began attending Ankeney Junior High during our seventh grade year in 1984. I can’t remember the time or the place, or which classes we might have had together – if any. But what I do recall vividly was that Alicia was not only very pretty (as seen at right with the high hair of 1989), but very nice to everyone with whom she came in contact. That was rather uncharacteristic for most pretty girls that age – who seemed to be anything but nice to geeks like me.
I can’t quite remember the first time I met Dawn Weller, but my guess would be that it was on the school bus. That’s pretty much where I first met all of my friends in the old plat. She and her family moved onto Pine Bluff during April of 1979, a full year after we moved in, but she didn’t start attending Fairbrook Elemetary until the Fall. For a young ‘un like me, Pine Bluff (the street in front of the Dean house pictured behind Dawn above) was on the other side of the galaxy from Winterset Drive where I resided, so I didn’t begin venturing up there too much until later. Besides, you had to ride your bike up quite a hill to get there. 
A week or two before heading out to 
Wendy Johnston was among a group of gals that included Kim Littlejohn, Dorinda Dohner, and Amy and Mandy Angle, with whom I attended two weeks of Eco-Adventures camp at Woodland Altars in 
As I recount the days of my life, I have come to the conclusion that the time period around 1984 contained what I recall as being the best days of my life, although it’s hard to say exactly why I’m so drawn to this era. Thinking about it carefully, it was an angst-ridden time where I was chubby, awkward, and confused. I liked girls but they didn’t care for me – and that about says it all. So why is this time now so well-received by my current-day self? One possible answer is because Eric Welch was my best friend during this time period.