By Joe Garrison, May 28, 2015 — I guess I really started enjoying summers when I was 6 years old. And it was the first time I had ever heard of Memorial Day. I went to a special boarding school for the blind where we went home on weekends. Sometimes I stayed in on weekends and one day I was listening to a song on the radio called “Cruising Down the River” on a Sunday afternoon. Also, it was the 1st Father’s Day I remember and that stood out because it was the first cake I remember my mom making. It was a coconut and pineapple cake and she said it was a special Father’s Day cake for my dad.
Usually, my summers were spent eating watermelon, playing with the neighborhood kids, and going to Vacation Bible School for 2-3 weeks at the Community Center. Sometimes, on the 4th of July, we’d either visit my grandmother (my grandfather’s birthday was on July the 5th) or going to the park for a picnic.
My teenage summers weren’t that memorable. The most memorable summers after that were when I was 20 and 21, volunteering at a work camp to remodel the community center. I even painted a house. And there were activities for all the kids there, like lawn games and basketball, baseball and badminton. Even though some of my summers weren’t especially memorable, summer is my favorite time of the year.
Summers are always beautiful to me.