Despite a steady rainfall that would have dampened the spirits of most people and ruined the day, we relished in it, dancing in the shower, swirling beneath the amusement park’s carnival lights, their brilliant colors shimmering off the puddles and in her dark brown eyes as we spun around to the music in our minds. Raindrops flew from her long hair while people huddling for cover watched our performance thinking we were both quite mad.
We ducked into an arcade booth where I won two huge stuffed animals that were almost as tall as she was. For some unknown reason, we named them “Ferdinand” and “Freddie” before putting them up for “adoption” and handed them to two youngsters standing nearby with their families.
When the rain let up, we hopped onto the park’s giant Ferris Wheel where we proved that singer Freddie Cannon was right when he sang, “You’ll never know how good a kiss could feel ‘til you stop at the top of a Ferris Wheel.”
Regardless of the weather, that love continued to grow.
We both disliked football, but one frosty Saturday afternoon we trekked to our high school football field and watched our team play. Despite the howling wind and the thick snowflakes falling from the sky, we brushed off the icy aluminum stadium seats and huddled together underneath a tartan stadium blanket, clinging to each other for warmth. We had no idea who won the game. It didn’t matter.
Regardless of the weather, time marches on.
Decades later, as I sat thumbing through the pages of my old yearbook, I came to her picture and the full page note she wrote to me that last day. My gaze turns to watch the heavy rain falling outside my window, and my mind wanders back to those happy, innocent times, wondering where she is, what she is doing now, and if she is happy. I wonder if she ever thinks of me as I do her.











