Remembering Del

Life has many twists and turns-we don't know sometimes where the detours will lead us. A bump in the road can change our direction in an instant.

Some people completely plan every moment of their lives. I've never been one of those well-planned characters. Do I regret it? No, because spontaneity has been behind every blessing in my life, starting with Del.

Being spontaneous brought about my first kiss. I hid in the closet with Del when we were seven and shared my Halloween candy with him during a game of hide-and-seek. He, in turn, gave me a quick kiss and announced we would marry each other when we turned ten because then we would have two numbers in our ages and we would be old enough.

We played badminton, ping pong, hide-and-seek, kick-ball and card games. We shared 4th of July picnics and fireworks and ran through the lodge where our parents were members. We listened to John Denver and watched The Partridge Family. I promised I'd never dump him for Donny Osmond and he promised to never dump me for Wonder Woman.

Then another bump in the road came when I was nine and my family moved from Florida to Texas, leaving behind Del and dreams of happily ever after. I floundered a bit till Del and his family moved to Texas a year later. We became thick as thieves again.

But puppy love waned eventually and we went our separate ways when we were thirteen. I moved one hundred miles north and discovered there were more boys in the world. Or at least in Texas.

Some would say Del was my first love. Our relationship lasted longer than most Hollywood marriages. Our families stayed in touch but as I grew older, I begged off trips to Dallas to see them, wanting to spend weekends with my high school friends. And Del, I'm sure, was breaking other hearts in high school with that gorgeous smile and those laughing eyes.

I haven't seen Del in over twenty years. I honestly don't know if he's married or has children. My mother talks to his mother from time to time but I never ask about him. He's the best part of a turbulent childhood and I guess I just don't want to take him off that pedestal. I wonder if he ever thinks about me but I don't want to know for sure. Finding each other again would replace beautiful memories and I'm just too selfish for that.

I always think about him during the holidays, though, because his birthday falls on Christmas Day. Wherever Del is, I hope he's happy. I hope he knows a child's love and a woman's love. I hope he knows that somewhere out there under the same stars he sees, a woman still has him on a pedestal and always will. That's where first loves belong.

Don't you love going down memory lane...sometimes?