My older kids' half-sister Jennifer has been
through so much in her life...and now finds happiness...! Jennifer, I remember
when you were just a small child and I hung out with you and your sister Kristina in San
Francisco and we sang songs together (late 70's early 80s)...I'm sooo
happy for you. thanks for being an inspiration to us all reminding us that true
love does still exist...and to never give up on the dream! have a wonderful
life...
This makes me think...oh yeah, the dreaded Valentine's Day is coming up...but instead of freak out or yell, "Valentine's Day is evil!" like I have done before, I think of how my son Stevie met Liezl on Valentine's Day a few years ago. :) through Craigslist no less! they are the first people I know who actually ended up in a loving, successful relationship...LOVE YOU FOREVER, Stevie & Liezl!!!
But then I remember how I also told my friend Tim whom I kind of liked and used to talk to every single day about how my son met the love of his life on Craigslist...he went home and found someone almost right away, within a couple of days! I didn't hear from him much after that. How do these things happen?
So, here's MY story of my very first "valentine..." It happened a very long time ago...
GETTING LOST (1967 or 1968 San Francisco)
It was one of those cool, summer days in San Francisco – I
was around 11 or 12, can’t remember which, so it had to be around 1968 or 1969.
I still remember that day as clearly as if it was yesterday, when me and David
Hirrell set out on an adventure at Sutro Forest, the forest of eucalyptus trees
that rises up above the massive UC Hospital right up the street from where I
grew up.
For some reason, it was just me and David that day – he
could be the meanest kid in the neighborhood, but sometimes he could be the
nicest. He stood almost a head taller than me with his sandy blonde hair and
dark eyes offset in his chubby face. Sometimes he made me so mad and he was
mean to me, and I was mean to him too. But today we were having one of our nice
days.
I still remember walking close to David, our bodies
touching many times – but neither of us doing anything about it. It was
probably the first time in my life I felt that weird connection with someone
that was more than just friends, just a tiny glimpse, though.
I don’t know where the rest of the gang was that day, the
Solis boys, my brother and sister or even David’s little brother Barry. I just
remember it was me and David – and we decided to take off on this journey
hiking up at Sutro Forest on rugged trails, sometimes right along sides of
perilous cliffs on the hillside. I had picked up a stick and used it to crash
through vines and as a walking stick of sorts.
As David continued onward, both of us suddenly realized
that we might be lost.
“Where the heck are we?” I said to David.
“I dunno!” David shrugged. He didn’t even seem to mind
that we were lost.
So we continued to walk onward, our bodies touching from
time-to-time, our sweaty hands almost clasping but not quite – here I was with
the biggest, meanest kid in the neighborhood. These were tender moments. I knew
it, but I dare not say anything about it as we trudged onward because it might
break the magic spell we seemed to be under that neither of us could explain.
Suddenly when we were really, super lost in the middle of
Sutro Forest, high above the rest of the world, the north part of San Francisco
and the Golden Gate Bridge stretched below us beyond UC Hospital, David
stopped. He pulled out a scout knife and made his way to a eucalyptus tree
close by.
“What are you doing?” I asked as he began to carve on the
tree.
“You’ll see. But hear me now,” David said all dramatic and
everything.
“Yes?” I tried to keep from laughing.
David didn’t say anything for a few moments. I could hear
birds chirping, but all the sounds of the city were far away and muffled here
in this forest that we were lost in. I wondered if we’d be able to find our way
out or if we were destined to wander these trails until dark. What would be do?
Camp in the forest? Would anyone be able to find us?
“Okay, there! But you’ve gotta promise, you’ve gotta
swear!” David said, moving away from the tree, “Before you see this.”
“Before I see what?” I tried to peek around David, but his
massive body stood in the way.
“You’ve gotta promise never to tell anyone about this –
swear to secrecy.”
“Okay, okay,” I laughed.
“No, for real.” David sounded all serious. He used his
bossy voice even. It’s the first time I’d heard that voice all day.
“Okay, all right.” I crossed my heart. “Cross my heart,
hope to die, poke a needle in my eye!”
David seemed satisfied with this, so he moved aside so I
could see what he’d carved into the tree.
He had carved a huge heart on the tree, and the in the
middle of the heart were the distinct words, “David & Mary were here.”
I didn’t know what to say. I knew that was special, that
it somehow meant something and I understood why David swore me to secrecy.
“Whooooo!”
David looked right into my eyes and I looked back into
his. “This is just between you and me, okay?”
“Yes, I understand,” I said.
Then David actually grabbed my hand and pulled me along,
“C’mon, let’s keep goin’!” He said.
I held on to David’s hand for as long as I
could. It felt warm and inviting even though we were both sweaty.
The other
time David had grabbed my hand was that day we went to the beach and I almost
got swept out to sea by this huge wave – our mothers had warned us about the
undertow at the beach, but had we listened? No, of course not. I remember how
the wave had knocked me down and I sputtered and spit water out because my face
fell right into the salty cold water, and just when I thought for sure I was a
goner, feeling the pull of the ocean, I felt a hand grab mine. “Grab on!” David
had shouted, and he’d pulled me right out of the water. I was convinced he
saved my life that day.
As we trudged onwards, I didn’t want to let go of David’s
hand. I wanted to hang on forever because as long as I held on to David’s hand,
it didn’t matter if we were lost…
