I recently found myself was in the liminal space of awake and asleep, thinking about how it felt to be a teenager in the middle of summer vacation, let's say 15 years old. I got carried away in those memories, and sleep did not find me. Instead, I found myself wanting to share those stories with someone, and listen in on theirs. Here's one for you.

My dad and I used to camp on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, right on the water, facing west. Every evening the sky would turn into pastel paint, on a canvas that stretched back home, to the other side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. To set the mood, this was the summer (among many) that I was in LOVE with .... let's call him Serry Jeinfield. I was convinced that no matter where our lives might take us, that Serry and I would end up together, I could feel it in my gut. Through high school, different colleges, Appalachian Trail hikes, international travel, 30 years could go by before we saw each other again but soulmates we were.

I digress.

Most evenings Dad and I would finish cooking our burgers, or hot dogs, roast s'mores, and he'd knock off for the night. I took to walking on the beach starting around sunset, largely so I could wax poetic in my mind about how I hoped for Serry to confess his love (soon! I was convinced). I remember the breeze in my hair, stiff, salty, heavy. I remember the sound of the katydids from the shrubby bushes, and the sometimes placid, sometimes tempestuous waves on the shore, and cicadas if we were lucky that year. I would dig my feet a few inches down to the cool sand, spreading my fingers across it loosely, softley examining each grain for answers to questions I didn't ask. Flopping on my back and starting into the sky, thinking half of Serry's hands in mine, and half of the constellations I'd been taught as a child in the backyard. How I felt the vastness of space, and started to realize my insignificance in the span of it all, and how comforting that felt. But mostly, I thought of Serry Jeinfeld.

Dear reader,

Thanks for sticking with me though that small glimpse into my Summer Lovin'. I realize this didn't really say much about me, but my hope is that you're drawn in anyway. You know how old I am, my general geographic location, and my pronouns are she/her. I'd love to hear a memory of yours, anything you want to tell me about. Draw me to you. Serry and I don't talk anymore FYI, but maybe you could convince me that he's not my soulmate after all.