Page 63 - Philly Girl

Philly Girl 47

Bonnie

I met Bonnie at a consciousness-raising group on women-
only night at the local Y. We talked about being assertive,
being strong, about our bodies, and about abortion rights.
Afterwards, we swam in the pool naked. We talked about
boyfriends and books and sex. You might say we bared
ourselves to one another from the outset. We had so much
in common. We were both students at Temple University,
though I was a year or two ahead of her. One thing that was
different was that I lived in an apartment with roommates,
while she still lived at home with her parents. She was des-
perate to move out and be on her own like I was.
Bonnie invited me over to her house, and I met her ador-
able mother Jean, who fed us Tam Tams with strawberry
jelly and hot tea with lemon. We still eat that when we are
together.
The summer after we met, I was accepted into a program
in the Appalachians—my chance to “help people.” This was
an outgrowth of LBJ’s War on Poverty, kind of like a VISTA
program, but just for nursing, medical, dental, pharmacy,
and social work students. I received a small salary, which
I badly needed to pay my college tuition and apartment
expenses. My plan was to sublet my room for the summer to
Bonnie. She persuaded her parents to say “yes” to her moving
out “just for the summer.” In reality, her plan was for this to
be the beginning of an independent life. I was happy to make
her dream come true, and thrilled to have a new and trusted
friend to take care of my room and my plants.