She was The First ! - - - - - - - - A Story of Love and Loss
Part 1 of 4
She really was the first !
I remember when my mom told me I was going to an overnight camp for 2 weeks. I was almost 11 and I cried. My own mom sending me away from all my friends for 2 weeks in the summer !?!
How dare she?
I presented argument after argument. All quite rational and fact based on why I shouldn't be forced to go.
My tirade of facts and rationales lasted the entire 65-minute ride. I argued about how me and friends had plans. How much all my friends would miss me. I asked who was going to take out the garbage for the next 2 weeks? An argument that even swayed my older sister in the front seat, who immediately repeated the question.
It was a Sunday afternoon in 1981, and it was the first week of July.
"At least you'll be home for your birthday." my mother replied in an uncaring fashion towards all the great objections I had proffered.
Camp Middlesex rose in the foreground. A desolate looking place with a barn right out front.
I redoubled my effort and started talking more quickly. Begging her not to leave me in this far off place filled with dangerous strangers.
The car rounded the corner, and there was a broken-down mare in the barnyard. A mess of a horse with a slumped back that had a tiny hand sliding down it's back as it held a brush.
That's when I saw her for the first time ever. The horse turned and the car slowed to a stop. The sun shone down through parted clouds. And for the first time in my short life, I felt the tug of love.
There she was, with her wavy dark hair that flowed over her shoulders. A concentrated look on her delightful face as she held the reigns in one beautiful hand, and a brush in the other. I stopped my complaining and was now all in for 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't ever considered being a horse before, but I kind of wished I were one then.
Over the next couple of days, I did whatever I could to try and get close to her. Found out she worked in the commissary, so I never missed my cabin's allotted time. She was in the Drama Group, so I joined that. Her brother was in my cabin, so I made him be my best friend, not knowing she secretly hated him. When our Cabin Counselor suggested we prank another cabin I convinced everyone to prank hers.
It was nearing the end of the first week and I still hadn't found a way to do anything but stare at her. Until that Thursday night in the Dining Hall. It was a spaghetti dinner, and her cabin was cooking so they were the last to sit down. I had made sure to get the outside seat at the edge of the common center walkway.
Then there she was. Having emerged from the kitchen, and she was going to walk right past me. Just as I had planned. My heart was beating out my chest. This was it. I was going to say something. I didn't know what, but I knew it was something. I gathered up my courage as my throat went completely dry. I stared at her as she walked and she didn't even notice. Talking to a blonde-haired girl that walked beside her. Closer and closer she came and I knew it was now or never.
And then she tripped.
Not a sprawling type of thing but more of a stumble that sent her straight at me.
Whatever I was planning to say fled my mind like a fish in a pond from an 11-year-old foot.
I reached out and up and steadied her by placing my hands on her slender back and shoulder.
My hands were on her. HER !
I was dizzy and dumbfounded and all my senses scattered.
She wheeled around and I drew back my hands as quickly as they reached out.
A scowl in her eyes drilled into mine, and for the first time that week, fear roiled through my body.
She said nothing and I tried to say something, but I stood there mouth partially agape. Sauce on my cheek and chin. She turned slowly back to what she was doing and her and her blonde-haired friend continued on.
Snickering, giggling, laughing.
As if something funny had just happened.
I was crushed.
We had our first date that Saturday night at the end of the week dance that took place inside the same dining hall.
[media=https://youtu.be/HTzGMEfbnAw]
She really was the first !
I remember when my mom told me I was going to an overnight camp for 2 weeks. I was almost 11 and I cried. My own mom sending me away from all my friends for 2 weeks in the summer !?!
How dare she?
I presented argument after argument. All quite rational and fact based on why I shouldn't be forced to go.
My tirade of facts and rationales lasted the entire 65-minute ride. I argued about how me and friends had plans. How much all my friends would miss me. I asked who was going to take out the garbage for the next 2 weeks? An argument that even swayed my older sister in the front seat, who immediately repeated the question.
It was a Sunday afternoon in 1981, and it was the first week of July.
"At least you'll be home for your birthday." my mother replied in an uncaring fashion towards all the great objections I had proffered.
Camp Middlesex rose in the foreground. A desolate looking place with a barn right out front.
I redoubled my effort and started talking more quickly. Begging her not to leave me in this far off place filled with dangerous strangers.
The car rounded the corner, and there was a broken-down mare in the barnyard. A mess of a horse with a slumped back that had a tiny hand sliding down it's back as it held a brush.
That's when I saw her for the first time ever. The horse turned and the car slowed to a stop. The sun shone down through parted clouds. And for the first time in my short life, I felt the tug of love.
There she was, with her wavy dark hair that flowed over her shoulders. A concentrated look on her delightful face as she held the reigns in one beautiful hand, and a brush in the other. I stopped my complaining and was now all in for 2 weeks in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't ever considered being a horse before, but I kind of wished I were one then.
Over the next couple of days, I did whatever I could to try and get close to her. Found out she worked in the commissary, so I never missed my cabin's allotted time. She was in the Drama Group, so I joined that. Her brother was in my cabin, so I made him be my best friend, not knowing she secretly hated him. When our Cabin Counselor suggested we prank another cabin I convinced everyone to prank hers.
It was nearing the end of the first week and I still hadn't found a way to do anything but stare at her. Until that Thursday night in the Dining Hall. It was a spaghetti dinner, and her cabin was cooking so they were the last to sit down. I had made sure to get the outside seat at the edge of the common center walkway.
Then there she was. Having emerged from the kitchen, and she was going to walk right past me. Just as I had planned. My heart was beating out my chest. This was it. I was going to say something. I didn't know what, but I knew it was something. I gathered up my courage as my throat went completely dry. I stared at her as she walked and she didn't even notice. Talking to a blonde-haired girl that walked beside her. Closer and closer she came and I knew it was now or never.
And then she tripped.
Not a sprawling type of thing but more of a stumble that sent her straight at me.
Whatever I was planning to say fled my mind like a fish in a pond from an 11-year-old foot.
I reached out and up and steadied her by placing my hands on her slender back and shoulder.
My hands were on her. HER !
I was dizzy and dumbfounded and all my senses scattered.
She wheeled around and I drew back my hands as quickly as they reached out.
A scowl in her eyes drilled into mine, and for the first time that week, fear roiled through my body.
She said nothing and I tried to say something, but I stood there mouth partially agape. Sauce on my cheek and chin. She turned slowly back to what she was doing and her and her blonde-haired friend continued on.
Snickering, giggling, laughing.
As if something funny had just happened.
I was crushed.
We had our first date that Saturday night at the end of the week dance that took place inside the same dining hall.
[media=https://youtu.be/HTzGMEfbnAw]
