Once

Do you remember the time the power went out? I sat on the lawn watching the storms roll in and lightning streak across the sky. I kept hoping that you would call. I was going to give you a poem I had written for you by candlelight. But you never called. I threw it away.

Do you remember when we rode our bikes 20 miles just to go to Dairy Queen? I never felt like I had earned a meal as much as that afternoon. The worst part was riding them all the way back after just eating at Dairy Queen.

Do you remember the night you asked me if I had feelings for you? I lied to you, because you were with somebody else. I wish I had said "yes" anyway. I wonder if it would have changed anything.

Do you remember when we freed the raccoon that was stuck in the garbage can in the middle of the night? It was whimpering, and at first we had no idea where the noise was coming from. When we eventually peered into the garbage can, it was staring back with big mournful eyes. Together, we lifted the garbage can and tilted it to let the little guy go free. He ran off into the night and looked back just once, as if to say "thank you."

Do you remember the long walk home from your friend's house that cold night in January? We saw a shooting star, and you told me to make a wish. I still remember what I wished for. It never came true.

Do you remember when I picked you up so we could go to that birthday party? You and I had one of the craziest conversations I think I've ever had. (And that's saying something.) When we got there, you guys all decided it would be funny to smoosh leftover frosting and cake in my hair. It took me two days to get all the blue coloring out. But it was still fun.

Do you remember when our classmate made you cry after prom? I've still never completely forgiven him for making you feel that way.

Do you remember when the entire town flooded? We went to the park and decided that looking at the flood water wasn't enough. So we rolled up our jeans to our knees and walked two miles of the path on what used to be a nature trail through the forest, except in waist deep water. The water was dirty and we were concerned about leeches, but we didn't even care. One of my favorite adventures of all time.

Do you remember when we decided to drive up to the "best haunted house in the state?" We waited in line for probably 3 hours. When we finally got in, it actually kind of sucked. But I remember getting our tickets and sitting on the guardrail next to the ramp, waiting for them to call our numbers. Laughing and talking and quoting Family Guy to make the hours go by.

Do you remember when we went mini-golfing and you fell in the water trap? I don't think I've ever laughed so hard. We must have laughed uncontrollably for 10 minutes. The best part was when someone across the golf-course yelled "I got pictures!"

Do you remember when we stole a whole bunch of lunch trays from the MDR cafeteria to go sledding? Somebody's keys had come out of their pocket and gotten lost on the sled hill in the dark. The rest of us left to get flashlights, but instead got mozzarella sticks and hot-chocolate and decided "it's too cold, and he's an idiot."

Do you remember when you got a bunch of us together to drive out to the countryside? You wanted to take us to go see the fireflies because there were thousands of them lighting up the pitch black night. Then a park authority came by, and we all decided to hide... poorly. We had to take two cars full of people to get there, so I don't know how we thought we'd get away with that. He yelled at us for being in the park after closing time and made us leave.

Do you remember sitting at Denny's at midnight to come up with good prank ideas? We were there until 3 AM, and I had so many vanilla cokes that I didn't sleep the whole night.

Do you remember the time when we decided that it would be a good idea to walk to Culvers at 9:30 PM when they closed at 10? It never seemed that far away when we were driving past it, but actually walking just barely got us there in time. It was extremely humid and we had blisters on our feet because we were walking through fairly deep gravel in flip-flops.

Do you remember when you found out that your office was closing and you were getting laid off? We got the cheese sticks from Toppers and hung out in your office, which was severely lacking in furniture, complaining very vocally about the whole ordeal. You also tried convincing me to do a shot of straight garlic butter sauce. I promptly declined.

Do you remember when we used to try and get together during our lunch breaks? I only had a half hour, and with the driving time and the irregularity of your lunch schedule, we only ended up getting to sit and talk for three to five minutes. Somehow, it was still fun. And I miss it.