Memories of a Time Past

The unexpected death of another old friend took me back to my seventeenth summer.  The times were different then but the thoughts of him and those I remember around us are more than happy memories.  Memories of a promise of what life could bring and a sweet innocent belief in life and people.  We spent many days that summer splashing around like young otters at the sand pit in Oshkosh or the forbidden quarry.  Playing games and having fun, boys and girls on the brink of adulthood but not there.  This was the summer of my first real glimpse of love, I remember that boy pulling me under the water, splashing me and eventually kissing me. It was tentative and sweet.  I can vividly recall those thick wonderful eyelashes, and the eyes of an unfathomable color, looking so intently into my eyes.  I learned that it can feel like someone is looking into you soul and can burn a spot on your heart.  That tender and loving look remains in my memory bank, not a memory of longing, regret or anything more than a happy and wonderful memory of a first love.
I can almost feel the warmth of that summer sun, and that boy/man will forever remain in my heart as one who did teach me to love.  It was a part of who I am now, a wonderful part that can still bring a smile and warmth even all these years later.  We were so innocent then, this boy went on to the Marines, became a father and husband and died all to soon, but he did bring joy, love and hope to many in his short life, and this includes me.

Now the death of another of that group saddens me but he too brought joy and love to many and will never die in our hearts or memories.