It was the summer of ’67. What a summer it was. I was the head lifeguard at Conference Point Camp. The camp was known as a family vacation spot on the shores of Lake Geneva. But it was that summer and the romance that followed that stands out in memory even after all these years. Time has a way of healing broken hearts. And yet I kept thinking about what could have been. Back then my future was pretty well planned. But sure enough, the unexpected always has a way of interrupting one’s path in life. That unexpected encounter happened so fast, it blew me away as they say. His infectious smile held me captive in ways I can’t explain. It was like a trail, so fixed in his every move. When people say that love at first sight is a rarity at best, however, I was able to notice an affection for each other almost instantly.
For two short weeks we were side by side. The night before the next morning under a moonlit sky we walked hand in hand as our feet slid through the sand. The gentle waves rolling on the shore matched the rhythm as lovers’ hearts beat. When we kissed goodnight I never knew it would be the last. She slowly walked away saying goodbye. That glow kept me warm throughout the night. The morning after the rain continued to fall. The call of duty beckoned me down. Although no swimmers went down to the lake, I sat waiting while the rain bounced off the lake when the news reached me that my love was gone. Not a word or a trace. Her family had left in the middle of the night.
The rhythm of the falling rain hid my tears of anguish, sorrow and pain. The heartbreak when I was so sure our love would last tore me apart. The relationships that followed for the next five years were all cut short by the memory of that love from that summer of ’67. Over time, the heart healed, but the memory of him still lingers in conscious thought.
More than 50 years later, as I look back, I was blessed with a life that has known the ecstasy of love and the agony of broken hearts. For me, even though I walked away from that summer of great love that never was. I still think that when one is young the desire to fall in love only stimulates the spontaneity of his actions and in most cases blinds one when the unexpected happens. Remembering that morning after has stayed with me even after all these years. And when it rains at dawn, the early light always brings me back to that summer of a great love that didn’t last.
