Happy Birthday, M

I met M when I was 14 years old. At church camp. He was from another church that was attending this same camp and I have absolutely no idea how we even met, but we did. Time has a way of fading memories as you get older and the few distinct memories I have of M from way back then are of kissing him on a bridge after a heavy rain until an adult Baptist came and made us stop and a couple of trips to Six Flags which I only remember going to, not the actual trips themselves. The only reason I went to church camp when I was 15, was to see him again. You see... he lived in Dallas and since we were so young, Dallas was a loong way away from Fort Worth. Six Flags was a middle road that our parents graciously took us to. And when we were not church camping, or Six Flagsing, we were devoted pen pals.

M was the first love of my life. I had been kissed by a couple of boys before, but I had never felt the way I felt for M before. I adored this tall, dark haired boy who held my hand as we walked from evening service in the dark, along side rushing waters with fireflies blinking in the trees surrounding our path. It was a magical moment in a very young girl's life and although many memories faded over the years, the memory of him never did.

Time passed and as was inevitable we both grew older and the letters eventually stopped. There were a few long distance phone calls from time to time, but since it was long distance, time was always ticking away the minutes. The last phone call I received from him was when I was 17. I had just found out that I was pregnant and was about to get married. He had called to invite me to Six Flags. And life moved on...

Fast forward almost a quarter of a century. I'm on MySpace because my kids were on MySpace and as a responsible parent I was spying on them. (I always use this excuse for my reason for being on MySpace) I was bored one night. Alone. And I searched his name. And I found him. And on April 24, 2007 I emailed him this letter:

From: Laura
Date: Apr 24, 2007 11:54 AM

Okay... I have to know. Did you used to live on Cxxxx Lane? If the answer is yes, I'll explain to you who I am. If not, then I apologize for bothering you. But your eyes tell me you are who I think you are. I think you will freak out when I tell you who I am. I live miles and miles from Austin, so I'm not a stalker. :)

I know, I'm a dork, but he replied and knew exactly who I was.

So we became pen pals again, although the technology is MUCH different and faster. (For the young ones out there, when I was a teenager there wasn't such a thing as email yet.) And now that I'm an adult and Dallas isn't such a long way away, he now lives happily in Austin and that IS a looong way away from Fort Worth. He came into town not long after we started writing again and I got to see him in person. I invited him to see one of my son's concerts and afterwards we drove to a What-A-Burger and we sat at a booth, had coffee and ice water and talked for hours. There's been a handful of phone calls and lots and lots of emails since then. He's become one of my closest friends.

In the summer of 2009 we have a date to go to Six Flags which I'm holding him to even if I have to drive down to Austin and drag him back by his hair... oh wait... uh... EAR... to get him there.

So Happy Birthday, M. May the party barges be kind to you, the beer fresh, the music as sweet as it comes, and I'll see ya next year! Seriously... I'm not against ear dragging!