That Summer Feeling

by Bridget Morrissey

Dara always said she and I had the power to bend the world to our will. We could make impossible things happen, if only we tried hard enough.

Under the watchful glow of a new moon, we made bracelets out of random things we scrounged up in our shared bedroom: garden twine, beads from other jewelry, charms, and random junk like small buttons and sequins. We called the bracelets our heart promises, imbuing them with a magic we believed we created together.

No one could ever judge me too harshly if I judged myself harder and louder than they’d ever dare.

I was not going to be falling in love at summer camp.

It was delightfully simple to spend time with her. I didn’t feel like I had to hoard conversational topics in case of emergency. We had an immediate ease that usually came with history or practice. We could have talked for hours.

I was here communing with the wind, free from the prison of technology. Just me and the birds.”

I never understood how she made friends so quickly, because it seemed to me like she didn’t put in much effort, and effort was practically my middle name.

Oh so she's a mirrorball girlie

There was so much I felt like I’d missed in life. I had so few opportunities to test those kinds of boundaries as a kid because I was trying to survive instead.

All I did was bleed as I tried to be your bravest soldier

No matter how old I got, I could always find new ways to be young again.

Today is never too late to be brand new

She made me afraid to blink, because to miss even a single second was to miss something revelatory. I would dance with her until the music stopped.

The second I’d met Stevie, I’d spent the rest of the time looking for ways to be around her.

Sharing a meal with people was one of life’s simplest pleasures. In the right company, breaking bread together, walking through the mundanities in our lives felt revelatory.

“The older you get, the more you realize there’s a damn good reason to be afraid of just about every single thing in life. So you might as well do it all, because the fear sure doesn’t care either way.”

“I think that the floorboard outside our cabin got loose because the earth shifted when I saw you.”

Invisible string, tying you to me

Tommy and I found that as adults, we really missed that summer feeling.

What was love if not holding someone else’s hand through their chosen journeys?

Life didn’t come with a guidebook, or a checklist, or a set of accomplishments that had to be fulfilled to succeed. I got to determine what success looked like for myself.

Every inch of my skin had already been covered in her, long before she’d ever put her mouth over it.

I can't stop you putting roots in my dreamland

I held my arm out to touch our bracelets together. “The world is ours,” I reminded her, whispering. “It always will be.” “Yes it will,” she said. “Sisters.”

“As we prepare to eat our last dinner, I ask that all my friends and found family here find the nourishment they need, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. I ask that their time at camp conclude in a fulfilling way that helps everyone see how loved and protected they are. No matter where life takes them, they are always safe here in the mountains with us. The memory of this place is a shield from harm and a balm to the soul.