As I’m away in Asheville, celebrating my 2-year wedding anniversary with Husband, Amy from Just a Titch has offered to guest blog. Enjoy her story of a trip to her boyfriend’s childhood home and how she fell in love with a different part of him.
I’d visited my boyfriend Andrew’s family home before, when Illinois was blanketed in snow and Lake Springfield, where his home rested on the banks, was iced over and frozen. It was a lovely first visit, despite my crippling nervousness and aversion to snow and the odd bits of settling into someone else’s family. Once we’d gotten comfortable, one phrase was repeated over and over: “You’ll have to come back in the summer—summer here is magical.”
And so, we packed our bags for three weeks, and headed back to Springfield to spend time with Andrew’s family, soak in the lake and to let me get to know the people Andrew loved best. We arrived late one sticky evening, and immediately went to sit out on the deck of their sprawling house, overlooking the lake. I heard the buzz of bugs and felt the cool breezes coming in off the lake.
For the next three weeks, I lived in summer culture. I woke early, enjoyed fruit on the deck for breakfast and piping hot coffee with fresh cream. We explored the city, taking in Abraham Lincoln exhibits and old funky buildings. I spent days at a time in my bathing suit, sitting on a foam noodle or swinging willy-nilly on an inflated tube behind a ski boat. I read books I’d put off for months in the sun. I was spoiled by Andrew’s mom’s amazing cooking: roasted corn on the cob and barbecue. There was a night at a bar with an amazing band where I laughed and met Andrew’s friends and got to know his city.
It was the highlight of my summer. The highlight of many summers.
And the highlight of it all was the fact that I fell deeper in love with Andrew. Sure, I knew him as he was with me: an Illinois transplant from California, a poker player, my boyfriend. But I got to know him so much better. I saw him as a son, as a big brother, as a childhood friend, as a little boy, sleeping in the bed where he’d dreamed so many big dreams and grown and changed.
I fell in love with lightening bugs and lake water and most importantly, with my relationship all over again.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Such a great post. Amy’s writing always gives me shivers!
Love this! Such a sweet story. Illinois in the summer truly does sound magical.
Love this
I went to school in Iowa, and the summers were definitely magical. Fireflies dancing in and out of the corn fields, thunderstorms, amazing sunsets. Loved it.