My Summer With The Boys!

Tonight I have been sifting through old photographs, finding items to torture friends on facebook. It is fun... this trip down memory lane.

I was fortunate enough in my youth to acquire some really good friends. Friends that stood by me through thick and thin, who I am thankful to say, I still count as friends, all these, ahem, years later!

But there was one summer, after a tumultuous year, that I shared with three special friends. These were three guys that I had known for a few years, and through life circumstances we all found ourselves free and single and none of us looking for a significant other. We just needed friends to get us through the summer, to laugh with, hang out with, do crazy things with and sometimes, even cry with.

It was the summer of 1987. We were in college, we were working, and we were young and crazy.

Every Friday, like clockwork, I could count on a phone call from one of these three crazy guys, firming up our plans for the night. It was always a "wild" time -- usually involving a game of miniature golf, followed by dinner somewhere and then winding down at my house, with my parents in supervision of course, watching hours of mindless television until all hours of the morning. We spent Friday nights that way, for almost the whole summer, then Saturday would be movie night or more miniature golf and more television watching. Sundays after church were usually spent together, around Charles' swimming pool - lounging and tanning. Some Sundays others were invited to attend...but my favorite times were when it was just the four of us.

We were comrades. We were four souls on four different journeys and yet, we understood each other. I was recovering from a bad breakup, the last thing I wanted or needed in life was a boyfriend. But all three of these guys played a part in my healing. They were true friends, they laughed with me and at me. They helped me see the light at the end of the tunnel, assured me that life would go on and that not everyone would hurt me. They never were disrespectful, always kind, concerned and protective. Just what this only child needed - three brothers to take care of her in her darkest time.

Now, all of these guys were chased after by all types of girls. I was often targeted that summer for stealing them away, but for various reasons of their own, none of the guys were looking for girlfriends at that time in their lives, so I just enjoyed my time with them - my summer with the boys! I wouldn't trade it for the world. It was a carefree time, a time of building friendships that have lasted longer than any romance ever would have.

The Christmas after that summer we all attended a party and for reasons unknown to me, we all four paused to have our picture taken. It became a legendary photograph. It was a great photo of all of us - rarely do you get a photo of four people and everyone looks great. I made a copy of it for each of the guys and it means the world to me that still to this day, that little photo, in that little frame is displayed in each of our homes.

Friendship - it knows no years, no boundaries, even death cannot tear it apart. You see, one of the three, Thomas, passed away ten years ago this year. He is gone, but every time I see the picture, I remember him, his smile, his laugh, his crazy antics. I am happy that my friends Glenn and Charles are still around, still available for me whenever I need them. I have often wondered if they know how they saved my life that summer, I don't know if I would have survived... I really don't. I guess this is my public thank you to them...for reaching out and holding me up - Thank you!

This picture makes me smile and I thank my Father in Heaven for them, for the memories we all share, and the summer that binds us together, still.