CINDY HAYES

Cindy Hayes joined us in 5th grade. She was put into Ms. Hynek's class. So I only saw her when I came in for reading class. When she first arrived, she resembled Sissy Spacek in Carrie - small, thin, pale, and very shy.

But she blossomed.

I had Cindy in many classes over the years. In 7th grade, we had every single class together. I have no real memories that stand out. But I'm pretty sure she didn't much care for me. I could be wrong, but I think she was friends with the likes of Amy Schmidt and Pam Schley.

I got to know Cindy a little better in high school - specifically our junior year. I had her in speech class, as well as Mr. Otto's geometry class, where she sat directly behind me. By this time, she had grown into a beautiful young lady. She was very, very nice as well. We also shared a car ride each day, as Cindy would hitch a ride with Dave Svatek. Dave had a slight thing for her. But she was unavailable. Her boyfriend was fellow graduate, Shawn Rappley.

I know I can speak for other people in regards to that one. How on Earth did Shawn get any girlfriend - yet alone someone as hot as Cindy? I liked Shawn. He was a nice guy. But Cindy should have been way out of his league. Was I jealous? You bet!

Cindy and I share a common bond. She is the only person who I had at least one class with, in grade school, middle school, high school, UW Manitowoc and UWGB. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, we both graduated from college with the same major and minor. The only difference is that she graduated in 1995. I followed one year later.

Cindy and Shawn were allegedly engaged, and were a couple for many years. Who knows what happened. But I guess things didn't work out. Cindy is now known as Cindy Eckes. I believe she's living somewhere in Wisconsin.

A few years ago, seemingly out of the blue, I had an erotic dream about Cindy. So for a time, my wife gave me some good-natured grief about it, comparing herself to Cindy.

UPDATE - 2/1/08 - A few months ago, out of the blue, I received an Email from Cindy. It took a few months to get some pictures from her. But she finally came through. You can see them below. She and her husband have two kids. The pics below were taken on a 2006 trip to San Antonio.