She was The First ! - - - - - - - - A Story of Love and Loss
Part 4 of ?
Another two weeks in my personal heaven.
There at Camp Middlesex, in the quaint and lovely town of Ashby, Massachusetts.
It was a 4H camp, Which stood for Head - Heart - Health - and Hand,
Tucked away about a mile and half away from the town's common. Perched upon the side of some lonely little hill in what I always considered to be in the middle of nowhere. But here I was. Some lowly little street kid from the inner city. A thing made possible by a grant from a Catholic school I had been thrown out of at the end of the 3rd grade. The school now gone and demolished and turned into affordable housing units. The church also sold off and made into luxury apartments. Quite the dichotomy for 2 parcels of once Holy Land that sit directly opposite of each other across the same street.
None of which matters to this story I'm trying to tell, as if it might reveal something to me at some point...
But yes, back to those long-ago summer days at Camp Middlesex.
Despite my first-year trepidations, it was a very wonderful and magical place to be for a young boy. The staff was pleasant and friendly and kind. Though it held a lot of the tropes from those old camp movies, it wasn't ever as raunchy or as base as all that. There were activities, and groups, and all sorts of mayhem. The smiles and laughter seemed unending. And I..., well I became one of The Cool Kids. Not that I wasn't cool at home, but there in the pine tree forests of Camp Middlesex..., I was SUPER COOL !
They should have given me a cape !
Alex and I began to bond that year rather quickly. We both joined the Survival Class on day 1. I wanted to still be near Amy, his sister, but she had gone a surprising route and the things I picked didn't line up with her things. I ended up asking for switches when I learned we weren't in the same activities. But the switches didn't really work out. We both had barnyard, but at different times. We both had the crafts activity, but also at different times. I remember wondering if she did it on purpose? But I was 12 and too cool to act like I cared, so instead, I acted like I didn't. How cool is that?
Though in the end, as I look back, we did spend almost every free minute together. Holding hands. Sitting in the sun. Walking in the rain when activities got cancelled. It didn't take 2 days before almost everyone knew we were an Item. Amy made time for me, and I made time for her. After all, I was going to kiss her, and she was going to kiss me back at some point before those weeks ended...
Alex and I got along so well and did pretty much everything together. My younger brother, Joe had no trouble showing his jealousy after Alex and I grabbed the middle bunk in the cabin. I took the top bunk, and Alex took the bottom. We were as thick as thieves and my brother wasn't happy.
"What about me?" he asked.
"Dude, just take that top bunk across from me." I replied as I pointed to the next bunk over.
"You know I don't like top bunks." Joey said in dismay.
"Just take the bunk and grow up!" I exclaimed and my little brother did as I instructed.
It was still day one and not everyone had arrived. It wasn't long before I met the first bully to arrive.
He was a dumpy little fat kid with squirrelly hair. He called himself Dan.
He walked in like he owned the place.
Walked straight towards my brother's bunk and proclaimed to, Joe, "Hey, you're in my spot."
My brother didn't know what to do. and all I did was lean up on my shoulder to see what was going on.
Other kids all kind of shied away as if they knew this kid and he was something to be feared.
My brother said, as any normal kid would, "I was here first."
But Danny didn't like that answer and reached for my brothers still unpacked bag at the foot of his bunk.
He ripped it off the bunk and that's when Alex said, "You probably shouldn't do that, Dan."
Alex obviously remembered the kid from a previous year.
Dan spun around with the bag still in his hand and stared really hard at Alex.
"What are you going to do, Alex."
"I'm not going to do nothing. But his brother doesn't like it when people pick on. Joe."
Dan laughed a little bit before saying loud enough for everyone to hear, "That's too bad for his brother."
I slid off my bunk without saying a word. I grabbed Joe's bag with my right hand, yanked it towards me, and as Dan was dragged in with it, I punched him square in his right eye with my left fist.
Dan ran out of the cabin crying and I solidified my place as the undisputed leader of the cabin.
Though I was a much better leader than Dan ever was and I never bullied anyone.
Brother Joe, you might ask?
Well, he became close to Super Cool just by default, and a lot of the boys there befriended him without blinking.
By the time we went home, he had more real friends than I did.
Mostly because I was too cool for that too.
When Dan returned with our counselor, he tried to reframe the entire situation as I was the aggressor and did what I did for no reason. But Dan had lost his edge and any sway over the other campers. One by one they all stepped up and said he started it and I only did what I needed to do. Dan took the bunk under Joe and it took another 3 days but Dan, Alex, Brother Joe and I, all became great friend's.
2 days into camp and I was "That kid from Lowell that beat up, Danny." or "The cute kid that was Amy's boyfriend."
Amy wasn't happy that I hit somebody but did say that if anybody deserved a punch in the eye it was Danny.
I took that as approval.
[media=https://youtu.be/bJ9r8LMU9bQ]
(Again..., my apologies. This didn't get us any closer to the end of this tale at all...)
Another two weeks in my personal heaven.
There at Camp Middlesex, in the quaint and lovely town of Ashby, Massachusetts.
It was a 4H camp, Which stood for Head - Heart - Health - and Hand,
Tucked away about a mile and half away from the town's common. Perched upon the side of some lonely little hill in what I always considered to be in the middle of nowhere. But here I was. Some lowly little street kid from the inner city. A thing made possible by a grant from a Catholic school I had been thrown out of at the end of the 3rd grade. The school now gone and demolished and turned into affordable housing units. The church also sold off and made into luxury apartments. Quite the dichotomy for 2 parcels of once Holy Land that sit directly opposite of each other across the same street.
None of which matters to this story I'm trying to tell, as if it might reveal something to me at some point...
But yes, back to those long-ago summer days at Camp Middlesex.
Despite my first-year trepidations, it was a very wonderful and magical place to be for a young boy. The staff was pleasant and friendly and kind. Though it held a lot of the tropes from those old camp movies, it wasn't ever as raunchy or as base as all that. There were activities, and groups, and all sorts of mayhem. The smiles and laughter seemed unending. And I..., well I became one of The Cool Kids. Not that I wasn't cool at home, but there in the pine tree forests of Camp Middlesex..., I was SUPER COOL !
They should have given me a cape !
Alex and I began to bond that year rather quickly. We both joined the Survival Class on day 1. I wanted to still be near Amy, his sister, but she had gone a surprising route and the things I picked didn't line up with her things. I ended up asking for switches when I learned we weren't in the same activities. But the switches didn't really work out. We both had barnyard, but at different times. We both had the crafts activity, but also at different times. I remember wondering if she did it on purpose? But I was 12 and too cool to act like I cared, so instead, I acted like I didn't. How cool is that?
Though in the end, as I look back, we did spend almost every free minute together. Holding hands. Sitting in the sun. Walking in the rain when activities got cancelled. It didn't take 2 days before almost everyone knew we were an Item. Amy made time for me, and I made time for her. After all, I was going to kiss her, and she was going to kiss me back at some point before those weeks ended...
Alex and I got along so well and did pretty much everything together. My younger brother, Joe had no trouble showing his jealousy after Alex and I grabbed the middle bunk in the cabin. I took the top bunk, and Alex took the bottom. We were as thick as thieves and my brother wasn't happy.
"What about me?" he asked.
"Dude, just take that top bunk across from me." I replied as I pointed to the next bunk over.
"You know I don't like top bunks." Joey said in dismay.
"Just take the bunk and grow up!" I exclaimed and my little brother did as I instructed.
It was still day one and not everyone had arrived. It wasn't long before I met the first bully to arrive.
He was a dumpy little fat kid with squirrelly hair. He called himself Dan.
He walked in like he owned the place.
Walked straight towards my brother's bunk and proclaimed to, Joe, "Hey, you're in my spot."
My brother didn't know what to do. and all I did was lean up on my shoulder to see what was going on.
Other kids all kind of shied away as if they knew this kid and he was something to be feared.
My brother said, as any normal kid would, "I was here first."
But Danny didn't like that answer and reached for my brothers still unpacked bag at the foot of his bunk.
He ripped it off the bunk and that's when Alex said, "You probably shouldn't do that, Dan."
Alex obviously remembered the kid from a previous year.
Dan spun around with the bag still in his hand and stared really hard at Alex.
"What are you going to do, Alex."
"I'm not going to do nothing. But his brother doesn't like it when people pick on. Joe."
Dan laughed a little bit before saying loud enough for everyone to hear, "That's too bad for his brother."
I slid off my bunk without saying a word. I grabbed Joe's bag with my right hand, yanked it towards me, and as Dan was dragged in with it, I punched him square in his right eye with my left fist.
Dan ran out of the cabin crying and I solidified my place as the undisputed leader of the cabin.
Though I was a much better leader than Dan ever was and I never bullied anyone.
Brother Joe, you might ask?
Well, he became close to Super Cool just by default, and a lot of the boys there befriended him without blinking.
By the time we went home, he had more real friends than I did.
Mostly because I was too cool for that too.
When Dan returned with our counselor, he tried to reframe the entire situation as I was the aggressor and did what I did for no reason. But Dan had lost his edge and any sway over the other campers. One by one they all stepped up and said he started it and I only did what I needed to do. Dan took the bunk under Joe and it took another 3 days but Dan, Alex, Brother Joe and I, all became great friend's.
2 days into camp and I was "That kid from Lowell that beat up, Danny." or "The cute kid that was Amy's boyfriend."
Amy wasn't happy that I hit somebody but did say that if anybody deserved a punch in the eye it was Danny.
I took that as approval.
[media=https://youtu.be/bJ9r8LMU9bQ]
(Again..., my apologies. This didn't get us any closer to the end of this tale at all...)
