My First Summer Love

I waited and waited for Marty to appear. I waited long into the evening hoping to see his handsome face come around the corner of my house, apologizing for being so late.

Marty and I had met three summers before. He was vacationing with his cousins who lived up the street from where I grew up. One afternoon, he appeared just as we were starting our regular Saturday baseball game.

“Hey, can we play?”

We all looked up to see who was talking. Tommy and George looked at each other and the rest of us and nodded their heads.

“Sure, come on over. We were just picking teams. This is George, I’m Tom.” He then introduced all the rest of us . . . Beth, Eddie, Peter, David, Brad, Mike, Chris, Skip, Betsy, Vinnie and me.

“I’m Marty and this is my little brother, Patrick . . . We live in Pennsylvania but are visiting our cousins for the summer. Do you guys all know Cheryl and Dotty?”

We all nodded. Cheryl and Dotty never came to play ball, but we all were friends. They would join us for crochet or kick the can in the afternoon sometimes.

Beth and I looked at each other and smiled. Marty was cute. We were both interested in getting to know him better. Being 15, boys were certainly a common topic of conversation for all of us girls. The neighborhood boys didn’t care that we were girls, as long as we could hit the ball.

Marty and I ended up on Tommy’s team, so I had a great opportunity that Beth didn’t have. She was on George’s team and was across the field from us.

I watched Marty play that whole game and thought he is just adorable. He was very athletic and had brown curly hair and striking blue eyes. I thought he looked about my age, maybe even 16. We spent much of that summer talking about everything and getting to know each other. It was August and he still hadn’t kissed me like I hoped he would. I knew he would be going home soon and I was very disappointed. Before he left that first summer, he asked for my address to stay in touch through the winter months and told me he would be back next summer. “Could I see you again next summer, Barb?” I was delighted.

“Of course, Marty. I’ll still be here.”

He gave me a hug, kissed me and then was gone.

The next two summers were very similar. We spent a lot of time together. I guess you could say Marty was my first love, or puppy love, if you choose. We played baseball, crochet, hide n seek and spent a lot of time just sitting in the cherry tree talking. He wanted to go to college at UConn to study to be an architect (and hopefully to be closer to me)

That last summer, I had just turned 18 and was waiting for Marty to appear. It was getting dark and was thinking I had been stood up. Patrick appeared and said “Hi Barb.”

I got excited. If Patrick was here, Marty must be close behind.

With a very strange look on his face, Patrick walked over and sat beside me.

“Where’s Marty?” I asked. Patrick just looked at me and tears started to roll down his face.

“Marty was killed in an accident in April. He was riding his motorcycle and I guess the car didn’t see him. Her died almost instantly.”

My puppy love was gone. I hugged Patrick fiercely and started to cry.

“Oh Patrick, I’m so sorry. I will truly miss summers with him.”

“He bought this for you and was going to give it to you this summer. I think he would still want you to have it.” I opened the small black box and there was a heart shaped ring in it.

I wore that ring all summer and in August, took it off and put it away in my keepsakes box.

That whole summer was a little somber for all us kids as we remembered meeting Marty just a few years earlier and how he had become a fast friend. This was not the way summer was supposed to go.

Every once in while still, I open that box and remember Marty. Now, I remember him fondly and how we had our first teen romance with each other and how special it was.