No one will ever put Baby in the corner again...

Patrick Swayze may have been the first sex symbol for my graduating class. I was reflecting on Swayze's passing and thinking about when I first heard about him. I was in fourth grade, in Mr. C's class at Linglestown Elementary, and I remember Beth Ryan talking about him in ways that I don't think I had ever heard someone else my age talk about anyone, celebrity or otherwise. I did not have these feelings towards anyone, and here was Beth talking about her deep colorful love for him. Oh, and George Michael. They were both on the same level, and she would gladly makeout with either of them.

Weird.

I was just trying to figure out how to get through multiple levels of Legend of Zelda, and made sure I got to the mall to get the new Spider-Man (there was even talk of a grey Hulk!) I had no clue you could talk about adults like this. Sure, in third grade I had been in the "congregation" of many a "wedding" held on the back porch of our playground. But whenever it came time to "kiss the bride", all of our faces got tied up, like we had just eaten a lemon, and the boys ran while the girls chased. It was one of those "free-for-all/defend-yourself-to-the-last" type situations.

But fourth grade, things changed and I think Beth led the way. She seemed pretty ahead of us. At least, she talked like she did. She had seen Dirty Dancing a lot, and would continue to see it, she said, until she knew exactly what to say in case she ever did run into Mr. Swayze. I even remember for a day she wanted us to call her Mrs. Swayze!

I'm really not sure what happened to Beth Ryan, or a lot of the kids I went to elementary school with. I don;t know that she ever got her shot to talk to Patrick Swayze. She seemed so much older than us, like she actually knew what she was talking about. I had no clue about a lot of what she talked about. Maybe she just wanted to be rescued. Like Baby, maybe she was put in the corner and she saw her knight in tight jeans and rolled up t-shirt sleeves.

Or maybe she was just a fourth grader with no clue about she was talking about.

(For the record, I really thought she did, though.)