the saddest part

of reading my high school reunion booklet is the "in memory" section. there were 465 graduates in our class. according to the booklet 80 have died. & then an e-mail from the reunion committee informing us of 3 more deaths. among those was Denise Gainer.

Denise was a 5-foot blonde who was movie-star beautiful. she was an early girl crush. we "dated" briefly. here's a picture taken in the Woolworth photo booth in downtown Elyria.

she began singing lessons at age 9 & was doing commercials at the same time she was appearing in the high school choir alongside the late Jimmie F. Skaggs. throuout high school she appeard on Cleveland tv shows & after graduation became a vocalist with Blue Barron's band. later she appeard on stage in Chicago. somewhere along the way I lost touch. I heard she got married but knew nothing more of her life.