I was 18 and home on my first leave from the Marine Corps in the spring of 1966. I was a slick-sleeve private of riflemen out of 6th Marines and decked out in dress greens. I go into a joint in Hempstead, NY and run into a brilliant classmate - Diane K. We dance and I buy her a drink and she begs me to not get killed as a Marine.

Diane wasn't the best-looking lady that ever walked but she liked me because I always treated her kindly in school. We lost touch but I always knew her to be a sharp wonderful good girl. We hugged and loved (no sex) as teenagers back in 1966 - I was a Marine private and she was a freshman in college.

On Classmates.com I run into her again after 40+ years. She's a university professor now with a Ph.D. and I scoop cat crap out of a litter box. Diane told me that she has not ever forgotten dancing with the young Marine who treated her as a special lady when no fellow was paying any attention to her. Jeez, I had some tears in my eyes when I read that.

I remember playing this one on the juke box that night - I think you could get 3 numbers for a quarter back then:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm5jLqdB ... re=related

Yeah, you can make an imprint with people that lasts a long time.