The last three weeks at Stephens were busy trying to catch up on all the classroom assignments and finals. Trucks and boxes lined the halls of the dorms so everything could be packed and shipped as most of the girls would be flying home. It seemed like there were more instructions than one had time to read. Lucky me didn't have to worry about packing too much as Dad was coming to pick me up and the only worry was that he could find his way to Columbia.
The University of Missouri had it's last big fling the second weekend of May. It was a huge street dance with a couple of bands and everyone from the whole area, students or not, always attended. Barney picked me up about 6:00 so we could find a place to park in close proximity. He had a picnic dinner and a 24 can case of pony cans of Colt 45 Malt Liquor to pass out to friends who wanted some.
Now I have to say here that I was not much of a drinker and neither was Barney. For one reason any drinking could get girls sent home from Stephens if they got caught and those were the days when "nice" girls did not drink. I was also one of those who got very sick after two or three glasses of wine which was not a pretty sight. But...there was something about the Colt 45 that tasted pretty good.
I woke up about 6:00 the next morning feeling fantastic. As I thought about all the fun I had it suddenly dawned on me that I did not remember anything beyond about 10:00 and we did not have to be in that night until 1:00. Ever have one of those moments of sheer terror?
As hard as I tried there was no way anything came to mind until I did remember laying on the floor of my room and everyone laughing at me.
The panic was setting in so I called Barney and woke him up with the question of what did I do last night?
He started laughing and asked what I remembered. When I told him nothing past 10:00 he told me he never heard so many jokes from someone in his life. Me? I never tell jokes because I don't remembered them. Guess I did that night and then he said he never saw a funnier drunk that I had danced my feet off but the funniest was when I managed to sing with his friend's band. He wondered how I managed to sing all the words to the song as much beer I had to drink. How much I did drink came pretty close to all but one can in the case.
He asked how I did signing in at the dorm? Cathie and some other girls were at the dance and did work for an hour to try to sober me up. Barney and I sat on the bench outside the dorm waiting for Cathie to come up to escort me in. Cathie filled in the rest of the story. She said I managed to get in the dorm and she pulled out my card from the box for me so I could sign in. Mrs. Wells was standing right there as she usually did and noticed I signed in upside down. Cathie said I told her I had lost my glasses and couldn't see a thing. Mrs. Wells expressed her concern about my lost glasses I am sure she never saw me wear. How I managed to not get caught drinking that night I will never know.
All my finals went very well thanks to Barney. It was easy to study together since he was Mr 4.0. Hours could go by and we didn't say a word to each other which was much better than trying to study with Cathie, Sally or Erin. They managed to create endless laughter all the time. Somehow Cathie and I both made A's in boating since we were the best at righting the boats and getting back in no doubt due to all the practice Cathie created for us.
Dad did manage to arrive in Columbia without much trouble. Maybe he just drove thru the same town three times in a row when Mother was in the car with him. He, Barney and I went out for dinner the last night to the nicest restaurant in town. Dad and Barney got along very well and I was beginning to learn that my Dad was a lot different when Mother was not around.
Back at the dorm there was one last thing to do before I went home. There was this ceremony that took place after everyone was in the dorm for the night. If any girl got dropped (a fraternity necklace), pinned with a fraternity pin or engaged (a ring) everyone stood in a circle and passed a candle around until the lucky girl blew it out. The candle would go around once for dropped, twice for pinned and three times for engaged before it was blown out. Most of us hated the whole ordeal.
The very last night on campus I borrowed a diamond ring from one of the girls and told Mrs. Wells that Barney and I were engaged. I don't know how the ten or twelve girls who knew this was a joke kept from cracking up. It was hard for me to keep a straight face as the candle went around three times. When I blew it out everyone screamed and hugged and all that dumb stuff while the ones in on the secret got a huge laugh. Luckily Barney was in on the joke because when he arrived the next morning to help me move out of the dorm Mrs. Wells could not congratulate him enough.
The next morning the halls of the dorm were filled with girls running around saying bye to each other and getting ready to fly home or waiting for parents to pick them up. Barney arrived early and by the time Dad arrived we had most of my belongings down all four flights of stairs. When we had a few minutes together Barney said he thought about buying me a present but could not think of something really special to get. He handed me his high school letter he had received playing football and said he would love me as long as I kept it. There could not have been a special gift and one that I still have today.
Leaving Stephens for the summer did not seem to be all that sad as everyone was returning in the fall and the "Big Eight" as we called ourselves would all be back together. Barney was going to summer school and promised to write, call and come visit. Three months were going to fly by.
Little did I know that I was heading home for the worst summer of my life.
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