I remember nervously twirling the frail gold bracelet around in circles on my arm. I hadn’t worn it in quite some time, feeling awkward having moved on with my young life when he had left that hot summer day, but as I ran up the stairs with this latest letter, I put it back on once more with shaking hands. My arm would turn a bit green below it but I decided I owed him at least that much.

The last time I had seen Adam was months ago behind the skating rink. It had been a warm balmy summer evening and the sun was setting in the distant sky as I gazed over his shoulder. He was leaving for the Navy and wouldn’t be back for many months but my tears continued to fall. I knew when he left, it was going to be forever, I don’t know why, I just did. He held me with tears in his eyes, promising me he’d write often, or as often as he could between training and the unknown expectations, he had been so excited but now, not so much. I told him I’d wait, I was sixteen and thought he was my world but somewhere inside me I felt the familiar fear that often surfaced. He was eighteen and had just graduated in June, a beautiful blonde boy with the anchor tattoo he had gotten in anticipation for his upcoming enlistment, still looking a bit raw and red and bumpy, as I traced my finger over it lightly, I told him it would be ok, that I’d be here and that I wasn’t going anywhere so told him to just write when he could. He smiled then and just held me as the gold sun slipped down over the horizon.

Continue reading: Summer of Love-Gold