I don’t know if this happens to most kids, but my parents were always paying us to leave the house. It always happened in the same way...My father would come up to me and say “Hey Jen, don’t you want to go see a movie today? Why don’t you take your brother’s. "

My response was always " Uh...I don't know, Dad."

"How about I give you $40 and you take your brother’s to the movies” he would say.

“Uh, sure Dad” I would reply

We’d call the movie theater find a movie that was starting soon and go from there. At the time I had a sinking suspension that my parents wanted to have “Mommy and Daddy alone time”, but wasn’t entirely sure. They were old…maybe they didn’t have those feelings anymore….lol.

The year was 1989 it was Thanksgiving Day. My Dad had come up to me with $40 and the line about all of the kids going to a movie. We decided on Back to the Future 2. I didn’t realize that it was opening week for the movie, so the theater was packed. In fact right after we bought our tickets, it sold out.

We bought popcorn, soda and candy, we were lucky enough to find seats in the center of the theater, center of the row. I remember sitting right in the middle of my brothers. Josh, John, Me, Jason and Nathan. That is how we were sitting. Time was really dragging…it seemed like we had been sitting there forever listening to people chatter, popcorn crunching, the rustling of candy wrappers.

Jason stood up and I immediately moved me legs up so he could walk by, but he just stood there. I waved my arm at him as if to say “hey…go ahead and pass”. He grabbed my hand and started singing “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling”. I was mortified. The entire theater went still and quiet. My jaw dropped and I started to slide to the floor. Jason however, was very strong and he kept hauling me up so that I wouldn’t hit the floor. He sang the first verse with the chorus. When he finished the theater exploded in cheers and claps. My face must have been purple…it had gone beyond red. The house lights started to dim, the crowd came under control and the previews started. I watched the movie kind of slouched down in my seat. After the movie we were milling out of the theater and people would come by and smack Jason on the back – congratulating him on his singing..

I was embarrassed – mortified – worried about what people would think. I think back on it…and it just makes me smile.