Dear John,
You asked me to tell you everything, so here it
goes…
Since you left, the summer has been a fantasy.
After I won the local beauty pageant in June, I celebrated out of town with my
BFF and our two ridiculously gorgeous guy pals. On the way home, we
accidentally hit this—Never mind, I’m sure you don’t want to know all my
dirty little secrets.
Speaking of dirty…there was this dance instructor
at the resort my family goes to every July. He called me “Baby” and taught me
things you can’t learn in books—like how to be a triple threat and record your
own movie soundtrack ballads. On our last night there, this complete nobody put
me in a corner, but he came to my
rescue. He pulled me onto the dance floor and I had the time of my life. It
reminded me of this one time, at band camp—wait, that’s a story best told in
person.
Now that I am back home, my midsummer night's
adventure at Kellerman’s seems but a dream…which brings me to August.
With visions of beach balls dancing in my head, I
stuffed myself into a wild bikini and set my sights on the ultimate sand &
surf fiesta. As I walked between beaches, I met these two girls named Hillary
and C.C. under the boardwalk. They wanted to be BFFs for life—and I thought, over my dead body! I want to be where the boys are. So I
ditched them. But when I got to the party, the guys were all sitting around on
their beach blankets playing bingo. Lame!
Just when I’d given up hope of some summer lovin’,
I met a boy, cute as could be. It happened so fast! Let me tell you more…He’d
just turned eighteen and was soooooo sweet. We were good together—if you know
what I mean. Soon we became inseparable; drinking lemonade and bowling in the
arcade. One night, we made out in the sand under the dock until ten p.m.
Unfortunately, the last day of vacation turned colder and that’s where it ends.
He told me we’d still be friends and wanted to
make a true love vow. The gesture was incredibly romantic, and flattering, and
totally naïve. Because, come on!
Summer romances are fiction. You’re on vacation from stress and responsibility,
with endless days and summer nights to spend with your crush. In summertime,
the livin’ is easy—too easy. Away from your daily grind, you get to reinvent
yourself as the perfect you (cue setting sun for golden backlighting) and for a
moment in time you get to pretend you’re in a perfect relationship. But it’s an
illusion. A two-dimensional teenage dream from which we all must eventually
wake.
When the heat of summer fades and the boys of
summer have gone, you go back to life, back to reality. Reality check –you ARE
NOT that idealized self. You are imperfect, and those imperfections make you
uniquely special. So rather than forcing a summer fling to weather three other
precarious seasons, I realized I wanted more—a relationship that fit the gritty
chaos of my everyday world with someone who would love me, flaws and all. A
romance like that is worth fighting for, because that kind of love—the kind
that flourishes when things are not easy—is truly magical.
Sorry Charlie,John. But, let’s face
it—summer is cruel. It must've might've been love, but it's over now.
Signed,
California Gurl
P.S. Please don’t turn up on my front lawn holding a boom box, begging me to say anything. It’s so 1989, plus I’ve already been through that with Lloyd!
P.P.S. Keep the pen.
YOUR TURN: Do you have any wild summer adventures to share? Tell me more!
9 comments:
Oh my gosh, Carey! Hysterical! Keep the own, ha ha ha! I love this post!
Um... PEN. #dyac : p
That's cute, Carey! :) I love the "keep the pen" reference!
Very funny!
I have many "wild" summer secrets...I will write about them someday...
Brilliant! LoL!
I have many wild summer adventures...but I'll never tell. ;)
LOVE :) Especially like the part about finding someone who will love you, flaws and all, because that's a love worth fighting for.
@ Jessica, Mel, and Lorie - thanks for sharing my laugh.
@Loree - I can't wait to read your wild memoirs.
@Romily - Thanks! I had no idea what I was going to blog about, and no personal stories to draw from. But in talking with friends, I hit on something fairly profound: summer romance movies create unrealistic expectations of lasting love. And for me, I love my hubby the most when he loves me at my worst.
Carey,
What a brilliant mash-up of summer fling movies. I loved it!! I'm a firm believer of summer love. Not that it will always last, but that it will be so wonderfully care-free and dramatic. Because that's just how I roll. LOL.
And I really, really love this topic because I really, really love summer love and apparently I really, really loved to cry a lot as a teenager. :-)
Kim - I can't wait to read your post and live vicariously through you!
Admittedly, this topic didn't resonate with me, but that's what I love about our grog, our diversity. *hugs*
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