The grandkids have gone home. But right before they went, they asked me to take a picture of them with their summer friends. Years from now when they look at the pics, they'll have good memories of playing out in the yard with their friends.I remember the summer friends from several years. Those are treasured memories, even after all these years. Summer friends are special. You meet under unusual circumstances, become best friends and part at the end of the summer to go back home.
During the hot, hazy days of summer, you roam around as a small loyal pack, joining together to face all the other little packs of kids. You're fiercely loyal to each other, share your snacks and bottled water or soda, squabble among yourselves and make up before parting each evening.
Every day you spend time plotting and planning what you will all do together the next day. Tragedy is a rainy day when you can't play outside. Your group draws together in a mutual aid society for every scratch or injury, rushing inside in search of first aid materials.
Summer is over. The kids here will be going back to school soon. Apartment friends are even more transient than friends who live in houses. Perhaps the next time my granddaughters come to visit, their summer friends will have moved on. In the meantime, they'll have lovely memories of their friends from the summer of 2009.
anny
yep, summer friends, vacation friends are special, even if they're only in your life for a week. Wouldn't it be nice if, as adults, we could still make friends so easily and so strongly?
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah...some of the finest pals I ever had were there one week, and gone the next. I lived in a town where workers came with the highway crews, or the special mining inspectors, and stayed for three or four months, then took the kids and moved to the next job site. Sometimes I didn't even get a whole summer, *sigh* and back then, we didn't have digital cameras to instantly capture the fun.
ReplyDeleteSummer friends are the best. We had a cabin when I was a kid and I loved hanging out with all the other kids in the surrounding cabins and the community. Those were wonderful times.
ReplyDeleteAhh, nice, Anny.
ReplyDeleteI have fond memories of the friends I had while at MY grandma's house every year! Some lived near her; others I only saw once or twice more.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a happy bunch of kids!
What a wonderful picture! Such great, fun memories (and just a bit tiring but worth it).
ReplyDeleteJane
Great picture. I remember summer friends fondly, those who would come to visit their grandparents in the summer. Some of the best times I remember as a kid.
ReplyDeleteWhat sweet memories they'll have looking at the picture. So great you took it. Make sure they label who everyone is now for the years to come.
ReplyDeleteEvery summer when I was growing up our neighbors' grandson would come for a two week visit. It was always around the fourth of July and he was a firecracker addict. We'd spend the two weeks blowing things up.
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