I met Bill Giles for the very first time on a fall weekend at a dance and mixer at Hodge’s Hall – the men’s dormitory at Marshall College. The mixer was for their freshman residents and I decided to go. He “picked me up” and walked me home afterwards. I’d find out that Bill was always good at picking up girls. That was one of his talents. In November of 1969, he told me he was attracted to my skinny ankles. I guess I owe my lifelong friendship with Bill Giles to my skinny ankles.
He was a great talker. He especially liked talking about Science and Music. I was in alpha z delta and we had the sorority and fraternity parties, but we didn’t like them so we would sit in the car outside the sorority house talking (and necking). I remember us having these long, long talks – sitting in the car – about how he hated the government, about how he hated school and the education system. Some afternoons, Bill and I and Bill’s best friend, Homer, and his date would take a picnic lunch and go to Ritter Park to our favorite spot and we’d talk some more. It’s pretty ironic that he would rail and rail on about the education system as he ended up getting his master’s degree (a lot of school) and later become a teacher (a lot more school). He did, though, take his son out of school as fast as he could. Bill would also attend the plays that Homer and I were in.
We dated. Not a lot, but we dated. We weren’t in Love. Bill was just one corner of my life at Marshall. I had a whole life in theater and school. A lot of school. In my junior year, when I met him, I was taking 22 hours. One semester in my senior year, I finally needed a break, and I took 12 hours. My 13th hour was playing bridge in the student union. I became a very good bridge player.
So, after many conversations about the future, I realized that Bill was a good friend, but I wanted a career. And he was never going to go anywhere in a career, as well as I could see. After college, I just let the relationship wither away.
I did though, go down to Marshall on their homecoming weekend in October1952 – in my brand new 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air – and we spent the weekend going to homecoming events together, to the dance and all of the activities. But by this time I already knew, because he had told me, that he had another girlfriend back home in Williamson, WV – Jenny – whom he’d eventually end up marrying.
And so began our life-long on-and-off unique relationship that lasted 59 years until the day he died at my house in April, 2009.