from school. I was in bed and my father was at home with me. He was on call to work at various hours and he got a call soon after everyone else had left. He asked me if I would be alright if he left me by myself, and I told him that I would be OK. I soon got bored with being at home alone and was looking for something to do. We had an Aunt living with us, at that time, and she had left some of her things to be washed and they were not far from the bed where I lay. Just as a something to do, I put on her undergarments. They were miles too big, but the feel of those rayon garments gave me a thrill.

The next time I remember dressing is the time I discovered that I was about the same height as my mother. I was in high school and I was, again home sick and all alone. This time I tried on her shoes and found that we wore the same size. After this discovery, I would play hookey from school and dress up for the entire day. Of course I had no wig, as wigs then were not as common as they are now.

I did not make very many friends during these years. I was more of a “loner" and I still am to a certain extent. But to those that I chose to make friends with, it was an all thing. One day, I confided with one of my friends about my dressing in my Mother's clothes. He wanted to see, so, after swearing him to secrecy, I got dressed and called him to come over. He came over, he looked, he left and before I had gotten the clothes off and back where they belonged, he had spread it all over the neighborhood. Needless to say, our friendship came to an abrupt halt. Some of the kids called me "Miss after that, for awhile and then it all faded, but this all served to make me draw further into a shell.

""

When I was 16, I asked a girl for a date. She accepted and we were going to a movie, but that very day, we received word that my Grand- father had died and we had to leave town for the funeral. My parents would not let me go over to the girl's house to explain why gould not take her to the movies. She did not have a phone, and so she thought I stood her up. She would not ever talk to me again and I did not have the nerve to face her, so I did not have a date with any girl for two years after that.

*

Then when I was 18, two things happened that had an effect on my whole future life. I met one of the most wonderful girls and I finally worked up enough nerve to ask her for a date. She accepted and we went to a Sunday School Hayride.

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