For this teenager and her Methodist gal-pals, church was a
social event. Shame on us, a sacrilege! Seven girls squeezed
into a pew far from the churchy-preachy pulpit ~ the place
we swapped racy weekend date tales. Who knew what
was true, what was fantasy ~ or a downright lie.
In my memory bank: (names changed to protect the
innocent.) Patty going all the way (first time she swore)
Cindy aghast, wondering if it hurt (cue stifled laughter from
the pew crew.) Jenna letting George French-kiss her (again?
ho / hum.) Lorelei slapping the s**t out of Manny (we never
knew why.)
Me? Come on! I maintained silence. Mother usually
positioned herself in the row ahead of us (she could
have heard a needle drop from that distance)
secrets must be kept
teenagers in a church pew
better not to know

Dearest Helen,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a fun filled pew of young ladies.
Such sins shared and confessed under the roof of God's place must have been graciously forgiven!
Your Mom knew ya'll very well and literally stayed ahead of you...
Hugs from a soprano in a Methodist chancel choir.
Mariette
I knew those Methodist pews for a while as a child, can't remember a single sermon except that there were a lot of football metaphors, and can remember hoping someone would bring green been casserole for potluck dinners on Wednesday night! That's about it. I think you had more fun! :)
ReplyDeleteHelen, this is such a fun sharing of yours! I really enjoyed your recollections of your youth! I'm smiling!
ReplyDelete~David
Such secrets surely sacred Helen — wonderful write my friend. 🙂✌🏼🕊❤️
ReplyDeleteScary secrets that mothers have need to know
ReplyDeleteProbably suspected and Mom's swap
..
Love this story!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Especially love mother's ear, highly attuned to the pew behind her.
ReplyDeleteSecrets in the pew not tge confessional 😁. Nice one Helen
ReplyDeleteHappy you dropped by my blog
Much💛love
ha, love this the secrets and the sacred place of confession. Better to be quiet wile mother is listening.
ReplyDeleteHard to keep teenagers quiet!
ReplyDeletePerfect haiku!
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful memories! You took me back to a pew filled with boys at our church!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful my friend, from the song quote to Haiku! Once of my favorites of yours Helen! The best churchy hiabun I will ever read!!!
ReplyDeleteA great reason to attend church, to miss would be missing the gossip! Fun read. I like "churchy-preachy pulpit."
ReplyDeleteThose mother's ears know when to listen, almost like the eyes in the back of her head always seem to see everything.
ReplyDelete