Summer loves and sweet memories...

      August -- purple loosestrife in the marshes,

      Goldenrod and Queen Ann’s Lace in country lanes.

      Still time left for picnics and sunburns,

      Summer loves and thunder in the night.

      But the sun sinks sooner every day,

      And the hush at twilight whispers,

     “September.” - Helen DePrima

Summer romance, the stuff of songs and movies and memories. Didn’t we all enjoy the heartthrobs and heartaches of a crush on the hunky lifeguard who grinned at the skinny fourteen-year-old worshiping at the foot of his throne or the high school football hero who mowed the lawn?

In my case, I fell hopelessly in love with Les, the handsome teen aged wrangler on a Colorado dude ranch. I functioned somewhere between staff and unpaid intern (I slept in the kitchen girls’ bunkhouse); my status earned me the privilege of tagging along with the older help and riding out alone without a guide. Because I learned to ride almost before I could walk, I even got called on to help Les gather the horses for lesser dudes’ morning ride. He didn’t return the next summer although I did, but I’ll never forget his good-humored tolerance of my adoration.

Saying goodbye to the boy I dated my senior year in high school was more poignant. I can’t call Mick my boyfriend -- he was beginning his studies for the priesthood at the end of the summer – but we loved each other the best way we could and treasured every moment before I left for college in Colorado and he to enter the seminary. I learned some years later he had renounced his vocation; by then I was married with two children. Can’t help but wonder, what if . . . But traveling with eyes on the rear-view mirror is a dangerous and futile practice.

by Helen DePrima

I didn't date much in high school, but the summer after I graduated, I made up for lost time. Although I wanted to fall in love with someone in the worst way, I don't think I did. However...

Carl was an air force sergeant, four years older than my 18. He was tall and lean and Southern and so funny. We saw each other nearly every day for part of the summer, then I went to work and I think he found someone more sophisticated to spend time with. I'd love to see him again and know how he's doing. I hope he's happy.

To tell the truth, my greatest summer loves were probably in books. I adored Spark Plug in Janet Lambert's Patty and Ginger series. I thought Sue Barton's Dr. Bill Barry was perfect. I read Little Women more times than I can count, but if I'd known about fan fiction then, I would have rewritten it so that Jo and Laurie ended up together under that umbrella in the next-to-the-last chapter. I loved Anne's Gilbert, Gene Stratton-Porter's Freckles, and every hero in every book Betty Cavanna wrote. I still wonder who Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm married, because Mr. Ladd, alas, was way too old.

Make no mistake--I wanted to be popular and be in love from the time the first hormones made their presence known, but it didn't happen. I'm grateful I had the books instead. I read them lying on a blanket outside in the sun, with a mixture of iodine and baby oil ensuring that if I ever did have a summer boyfriend, I was going to have a good tan. (I never said anything about being smart...)

The second summer after graduation, I did meet a summer love, although Uncle Sam hijacked him in July. He came back to stick around for all the seasons since. I'd never read the poem in Helen's part of the post, but I'm happy to have lived it.

We've had a good time with our summer's-end reminiscences. Tell us about your summer loves.

by Liz Flaherty

A big P. S. here. I just got the cover for my December book, The Happiness Pact. Isn't it cool? And available for pre-order along with the boxed set for December. I love sharing the month with Beth Carpenter, Catherine Lanigan, and Rula Sinara! Keep an eye out for prizes and things!