6 — Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022 — North Pointe
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I THROUGH THE DECADES By Kaitlyn Barr, Bee Bielak, Grace Rossman & Katie Madigan SECTION EDITORS & INTERN It wasn’t until the 1920s that the concept of dating was introduced. It evolved from and replaced a courtship, a relationship committed to marriage. The words “boyfriend” and “girlfriend” began to signify a romantic relationship rather than a platonic one. During this era of romantic relationships, it became acceptable for young people to have the freedom to choose who they wanted to be with, without the pressure of devoting themselves for life. The idea of dating has been around for decades, but it’s meaning has changed immensely throughout time. From writing love letters to swiping right on a match, dating has progressed exponentially. According to Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Ellen Miller, dating has been changing at a rapid pace. With social media and technology developing, dating has developed and changed as well. “[In past generations], relationships had a very strict framework,” Miller said. “Over time, that has changed and that framework has become a little bit more flexible to accommodate changing circumstances, [such as] women being more focused on education, and men may be more focused on staying home.”
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In 1965, two young children became friends, not knowing all their future would hold for them. From seeing each other at Sunday morning church when they were six, to celebrating their 42nd wedding anniversary, Student Activities Director Peggy Bonbrisco and her husband John Bonbrisco have spent nearly their whole lives together. Their older sisters were a pair of best friends, and their earliest memory together is from one of the many days when the girls were stuck at home babysitting the two kids. John Bonbrisco recalls this memory. Peggy Bonbrisco remembers the same day. “[My first memory of John] was jumping in bed,” Peggy Bonbrisco said. “It was with our sisters babysitting and horseplay, fooling around and watching shows on TV.” The two grew up together, but it wasn’t until 1974, when they were 16, that they went on their first date. As teenagers, the Bonbriscos went on dates almost every weekend, and sometimes went with
a group of friends. The now closed Club 500 was a hotspot for teenagers, and one of the Bonbriscos’ favorite date spots. Bowling and movies were some of their other typical date night activities. Peggy Bonbrisco recalls the Gratiot Drive-In movie theater, where they went almost every other weekend. “You stayed in your vehicle, and you had a speaker connected to a long wire, rolled your window down, tucked the speaker in and that’s how you listen[ed] to the movie,” Peggy Bonbrisco said. “What was cool about that, is you could bring as many people in your car [as you wanted] and just pay for the car, so we always got the car filled up.” In an age with no smartphones, the Bonbriscos’ access to communication posed some challenges. When Peggy Bonbrisco became a teenager, her mother bought an extension cord for the landline phone stationed on the wall. She was able to drag it just up the top of the staircase, in an attempt to gain as much privacy as she talked to John Bonbrisco on the phone. Despite her best attempts, she acknowledged that everyone heard her conversations. “If your mom answered the phone, your mom knew who was calling you. Not like [parents now], they have no idea who’s texting you and who’s calling you,” Peggy Bonbrisco said. “The whole family knew because it would be like, ‘Oh, Peggy, it’s John,’ and everybody would giggle and laugh.” John Bonbrisco also experienced troubles with the landlines they used in the 1970s. “I would pick up the phone and it was what we called a party line back then,” John Bonbrisco said. “There was somebody else actually using the phone that was down the block, so I couldn’t make my call when I expected to.” Another issue the Bonbriscos encountered while dating was being strapped for cash on their dates. In their time, kids typically often didn’t get much money from their parents. “John used to run out of gas, and we would have just enough money to fill the tank and then go do what we’re gonna do,” Peggy Bonbrisco said. “Our children had more access to cash than we did, it was a little more free flowing, but not really in our time. Mom or Dad might have given you a couple of bucks or whatever, but that was it.”
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In 1997, science teacher Liz Michaels unknowingly met who would be her future husband, Alex, in their fifth grade classroom. Eventually, he would bring her back there to ask her to be his wife, as they swung on the swings they played on together as kids. It wasn’t until their junior year of high school that they officially started dating. The previous year, they rekindled their childhood friendship in their Advanced Placement US History class. As high school sweethearts, the couple shares all their memories of their teenage years together. “The first dance that we went to together was actually homecoming our senior year, and then we obviously went to prom together, too,” Michaels said. During this time, teenagers’ date nights became less traditional. Instead of going out to the movie theater or sitting down at a restaurant, teenagers in a relationship began to hang out like they would with their friends. This trend has continued to the modern day, and activities the Michaels did are still popular among high schoolers. “We did a lot of driving around. We used to watch a lot of movies in his parents’ basement,” Michaels said. “For a fancy night, he would always cook for me.” In the modern era, teens are texting each other all the time no matter where they are. They could be at school, at their house or in a different state, and still be able to get a hold of their partner. However, this was different for Michaels. While texting was an option, she would have to pay by the message in order to text someone. This caused a conflict with how Michaels was able to get a hold of her partner, as texting was out of budget for a typical high school student. “We had to ration how much [we could] actually text each other so that our parents didn’t get a big bill,” Michaels said.
