Elaine Wedeking
Jim was my first real boyfriend. I probably noticed (and had a crush on) his brother Tom first, since Tom was just a year younger than me, equally nice looking, and Jim was three years older..... he a senior, and me a freshman. I know my parents liked Jim and felt comfortable with him, though, or they would have never let me go out with him as we became boyfriend/girlfriend towards the end of my freshman year.
Jim made me feel valued and beautiful, and he had a sweetness about him that is probably a family trait. I was the firstborn of three girls, Jim the firstborn of four boys, and our respective ages and shared activities in music meant we all knew each other during our school years in West Branch. My youngest sister Marilyn, after a chance meeting with Tom, Bob, and Joe where they had a delightful opportunity to recall memories, recently said to me,"You picked good guys!" I had other boyfriends after Jim went off to college, but he was indeed a "good guy"! It is a happy privilege to recall the sweetness of my time with him.