It was the summer of ’67. What a summer it was. I was the chief lifeguard at Conference Point Camp. The camp was known as a family vacation spot on the shores of Lake Geneva. But it was that summer and the romance that followed that stands out in memory even after all these years. Time has a way of healing broken hearts. And yet I kept thinking about what it might have been. Back then my future was pretty well planned. But sure enough, the unexpected always has a way of interrupting one’s path in life. That unexpected encounter happened so fast that it surprised me as they say. His infectious smile held me captive in ways I can’t explain. It was like a trail, so obsessed with his every move. When people say that love at first sight is a rarity at best, I can notice a mutual affection almost instantly.

For two short weeks we were side by side. The night before the next morning, under a moonlit sky, we walked hand in hand as our feet slid across the sand. The gentle waves rolling on the shore matched the rhythm in which the lovers’ hearts beat. When we kissed good night, I never knew it would be the last. Slowly he walked away saying goodbye. That glow kept me warm all night long. The morning after the rain continued to pour down. The call of duty beckoned me down. Although no swimmers went down to the lake, I sat waiting as the rain bounced off the lake when the news reached me that my love was gone. Not a word, not a trace. His family had left in the middle of the night.

The rhythm of the falling rain hid my tears of anguish, pain and pain. The breaking of my heart when I was so sure our love would last tore me apart. The relationships that followed for the next five years were cut short by the memory of that love from that summer of ’67. As time passed, the heart was healed, but its memory still lingers in conscious thought.

Over 50 years later, when I look back, I was blessed with a life that has known the ecstasy of love and the agony of broken hearts. For me, although I passed that summer of great love that would never be. I still think that when you are young the urge to fall in love only stimulates the spontaneity of your actions and in most cases blinds you when the unexpected happens. Remembering that morning after has stayed with me even after all these years. And, when it rains at dawn, the sunrise always reminds me of that summer of a great love that did not last.