With this incredible weather we’re having in Toronto these last few days it’s hard to ignore Summertime and I find myself reminiscing about some of the good old days of my youth and the fun Summertime I’ve had. Here is, in no particular order, my favourite top 10 Summer memories:
#05 = Summer of 1974
In 1974, I was sad to see the school year come to an end, I actually had some good friends in my class for once, in particular, 2 girls I really enjoyed hanging out with. Both of them lived on the same street but quite far from where I resided, so we basically saw each other at school only. On occasions, my father would drive me to their neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon so I could spend time with them and he’d picked me up again before dinner. From my home, it was probably a good 20 minutes drive. Way too long for a walk and also too dangerous for bicycle ride as it was main streets and boulevards all the way. I had just turned 10 after all.
The 3 of us continued our friendship through telephone calls… loooooooong telephone calls that would drive my mom crazy.
One very nice summer day, after talking to one of them on the phone, I decided that I’d go and take the local bus and go visit her. It meant walking off the island to a bus stop on the main boulevard. It would take me at least 30 minutes to get there. I went into my piggy bank and took out a handful of coins for fare. As I was leaving my home, a neighbour friend of mine asked where I was going. I told him and he decided he’d walk with me to the bus stop. We got there and waited for the bus to come… Waited and waited. Finally it came, I said goodbye to my friend and climbed on the bus, took a whole bunch of coins from my pocket and paid the driver. I sat near the front as to not miss my stop, I had been a few times by car, I knew I’d recognize where to get off. And I did. In fact my two friends were waiting for me at the corner.
The girls and I spend the afternoon together, one of them had a playhouse built in her backyard. I remember we played boardgames and barbie. We also helped picking up tomatoes in one of the girl’s veggie garden. All of a sudden, one of the girl was called inside the house and a little bit later came out looking sad. Apparently my mom was on the phone and wasn’t very happy… I had to go in the house and take a phone call. My mom didn’t yell but she was pissed. She had asked everyone I knew if they had a clue as to where I was and finally that one kid that walked with me to the bus stop told her what I had done… My mom told me not to go anywhere because my dad was now leaving to come get me. I suddenly knew I had just bought a one-way ticket for a trip to Shitville.
We spent the rest of our time together sitting in front of the house, not really talking, just watching the long road for my dad’s car to arrive. When he did, he went to ring the doorbell to thank the girl’s mom for everything and then told me to say goodbye to my friends. He also didn’t yell at me, I think he was relieved that I was alright, but he told me that I had acted very stupidly and that I should’ve asked permission to go there. And that I was grounded. For a long time.
I didn’t see my friends for the rest of the Summer but we continued to chat on the phone. I spent a lot of time around the house. After a few weeks, I was permitted to go play with my local friends again with a certain curfew. In time, the curfew was lifted. I remember that my sister had the 45 of Rock The Boat and I played it on and on and on.
Both of the girls were in my class again the following September. And we reconnected just like no Summer had ever taken us apart.
Just like that infamous bus…