THE SUMMER OF '77

The two young girls looked about 13 or 14 years old. They had stopped to shake a pebble out of one of their sandals when I passed them on my walk. A little heavy on the make-up but still young and innocent.

And suddenly I was back to the summer of 1977, the summer before I started High  School. 

And I remembered.

I remembered hanging out with my girlfriend Lynda. 

Lisa, Laurie, myself, Bernice and Lynda on Grade 8 Graduation

We were determined to wow them when we walked into that high school so we spent a lot of time pouring over 17 Magazines and trying makeup and hair products. Blue eyeshadow was all the rage. So was "Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific" and "Short and Sassy" shampoo. 

I would either bike to her house or, her to mine. We would have sandwiches and  Koolaid and sometimes if we had any money, buy a popsicle. We were still so innocent.

But life was about to teach us a lot in a few short years.

That summer would bring the death of Lynda's father. I would sit outside the hospital on a bench in the hot sun while Lynda would visit her father inside. Little did I know in 10 years I would be doing the same thing in the same hospital with my own sister before she would pass away from cancer. 

High school brought experiences with working and making my own money. With the loss of other friends through foolish accidents or suicide. It brought the intoxicating experience of falling in love, a much too heady potion for any teenage heart to bear. It brought independence and many, many mistakes with drugs, addiction and sex. 

I passed by those two young girls, little heavy on the makeup, and wondered how they would fare through their High school years. 

Life is an incredible journey. Full of wonderful and fearful experiences that mold us into who we become and even though I felt I had lost all my innocence by the end of those 4 years, I had not. It is still there, still hidden away inside the little girl within me. 

You just have to remember.