Memories of an Old Man is a series of memoirs written by West of 50 member, Ken Felts.
My father’s final transfer by the railroad took us back to our old home, Dodge City. Little had changed in the seven years we had been gone. Boot Hill was still drawing in the sightseers and the Arkansas River still flowed when it rained as most of the river water was used upstream by farmers to irrigate their crops. I was now in high school, and many of the youth from my first and second grade classes were still in the system, so getting reacquainted with old friends was not difficult.
It was 1946; WWII had ended the previous year. Returning gay veterans did not wish to go back to the homes they left, and many filtered into East and West Coast cities which had become known to be gay centers. Dodge City did not attract those gays.
During junior year of high school, I was soon in a small group of students I had known in grade school, but with whom I had not kept in contact. My group of friends usually got together at lunchtime. I was assigned to one class, physical education, that I had always detested. In Dodge City, it followed the long familiar pattern - the instructor had his favorite jocks and the rest of the class was only tolerated. It was always embarrassing to be picked last when teams were chosen. Other classes were good and I began to make new friends.
In debate class, I met Mary Jane who pursued me for years. She asked me to attend the senior prom, which I did. I drove her home and let her out and did not kiss her. Many years after the senior prom, at a class reunion, she approached me and told me she wanted that kiss. I obliged her.
Needing spending money, I worked at a small café across from the high school. I did all the stations except cook. When the owner sold the business, the new owners had their own staff and could not continue with me. A small grocery store next door became my next place of employment. It was operated by a middle-aged couple and my job was to drive the delivery van and carry groceries into homes. This took a couple of hours every afternoon. My brother operated an auto repair and service station and at the end of the semester, he asked me to help during the summer. However, the wheat harvest began at the beginning of July and I went to work for a farm couple. Harvest only took a few days, but the hours are long, and the pay is good. I returned to my brother's service station for the rest of the summer.
Now a senior in high school, I had found three other friends who were also gay. One was Freddie, originally from Mexico. He invited me to his place where he lived in the basement of his parent's house. Naive us, nothing happened. Many years later I met him again at a reunion. There was also Jimmy, and we did hang out together. He worked at the local drugstore. When graduation was over, he moved in with his boss. Then there was Wayne who had many traits that I identified as gay. We went to the same church, he took his religion seriously, and married a classmate according to the church's teachings. I was in the same situation, only I did not want to get married.
After high school graduation, I attended Dodge City’s new Junior College, and for the next two years, life did not offer many memorable events. I worked in a small neighborhood floral shop and learned about floral design, helped my brother at his shop, and got my first car. At the end of 1950, in order not to be drafted, I joined the Navy.