The rain soaked summer yielded a valuable lesson

"The Summer That Wasn’t"

The summer of 1989 was supposed to be a season of positive change for twelve-year-old Elijah Brown. Instead, it became a huge disappointment that later led to much reflection. Elijah had circled June 10th on his calendar back in March, when snow still blanketed the ground in his town.

This was the first day of summer break, and Elijah had meticulously planned each day. He envisioned bike rides, trips to the lake, a church picnic, July 4th celebrations, the Summer Carnival, and long afternoons lounging on the dock, enjoying the sun with a snack in one hand and a good book in the other.

The best laid plans of mice and men

However, rain began to fall, starting as a drizzle on the last day of school, almost like a warning of what was to come. It felt as if the sky was cautioning all the kids not to get their hopes up for a fun-filled summer. Elijah and his best friend, Lonnie Johnson, stood outside the school building, watching the ominous clouds approach from the horizon.

There was a sense of apprehension in the atmosphere, and Elijah had a strong feeling that everything was about to go wrong. Ever the optimistic, Lonnie said, “It’ll blow over,” “It always does.” This time he was wrong because it didn’t. By the end of the week, the rain was coming down much heavier and steadier.

The rain rain rain kept falling down

Elijah couldn't help but think of *The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh* when the heavy rain caused flooding. The song "The Rain Came Down" began to play in his head, unrelenting. His grandma Liz shared her memories of many summers that were dreary, cool, and rainy, but that wasn't what Elijah wanted to hear.

Each morning, Elijah would open the blinds, hoping for a miracle of sunshine, and each morning, the same gray sky greeted him. He was certain that the rain would eventually let up and give him the summer he had been anticipating, but when July arrived, it was still raining.

Cancelations everywhere

In addition to his plans being canceled, the town's fireworks display was rescheduled and ultimately canceled as well. Elijah's cousins were supposed to visit from Baltimore, but they canceled their trip too. The local beach was closed until further notice due to rising water levels near the docks. Every fun activity Elijah had planned for the summer was gone.

To cope with the situation, Elijah's mom and dad started having family nights. Along with his younger sister Cherie, they watched Disney films, played Monopoly, and engaged in other games, but it wasn't the same. One day, as Eli lamented to Liam about how summer felt canceled, Lonnie shared that there would be no soccer camp this year because the ground was too soggy.

The annual church picnic had been canceled, and Lonnie mentioned that his mother said the unusual weather was due to an El Niño. He laughed to himself, recalling the Cowardly Lion from *The Wizard of Oz*, who remarked, "Unusual weather we're having for this time of year," when it snowed in the poppy field.

A promise of hope is dashed

In the second week of July, Elijah woke one Wednesday morning to sunshine filtering through his bedroom window. He quickly got dressed without eating breakfast and rode his bike to the park, where other children had gathered. They played on the slide, the merry-go-round, and the swings. It seemed like summer fun had returned, but by noon, a heavy downpour sent them all scrambling home.

By the end of the month, the smell of wet earth and mildew filled the air. Elijah’s mom tried to lift his spirits by baking cookies and buying ice cream, but nothing seemed to work. Everyone in the house was growing grumpy, and as August approached, the drizzle intensified into a torrential downpour.

The final straw was the cancellation of the town's Summer Carnival, which had taken place uninterrupted for 34 years until now. Elijah tried reading books, but could not concentrate because of the rain beating against the window panes. In a few weeks, school would start again, and he hadn’t done anything he had hoped to accomplish all summer long.

A life lesson learned

Elijah finally resigned himself to the fact that the summer of 1989 was not what he had wanted or planned, but he still had a few weeks left, and he would make the most of it. he and hsi friends began running barefoot through the rain and jumping in puddles. They sailed paper boats in the lake.

He invited Lonnie and a few other boys over for a weekend sleepover. They set up blankets like tents and told ghost stories in the dark while drinking hot chocolate and eating trail mix as the rain continued to fall.

Elijah Brown learned a valuable lesson that summer: when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade and do the best you can from the hand you were dealt. It was a lesson that served him well into adulthood, especially when he married and had his own children.