Summer Lovin’, had me a bla-aast…
Don’t you remember the anticipation of summer? Counting down the days and planning adventures with friends. Just waiting for life to begin. When every day was a gift and you yearned to make the most of it.
I’m not talking about the scents of freshly cut grass or wild honeysuckle or even the feeling of sand between your toes and the sun’s rays tingling the tanning oil on your body. I’m talking about feelings of love and anticipation and a world ripe with…possibilities. The possibility of falling in love. Again and again.
I remember the excitement about boys. I can now look back with the realization that summer relationships taught me a lot. It was that first taste of all-consuming love—when you knew IN ADVANCE that it wasn’t meant to last beyond the season so you tried to make each and every little moment count.
Sleeping in and sneaking out. Giggling into the night with girlfriends about boys and willing to sneak out for stolen kisses because summer put your life in slow motion for a while. It was time suspended, and we made the most of it. It was a time when taking a walk at sunset with the love of your life (for that part of the summer) and intertwining your fingers with his seemed like the most romantic thing in the world.
As writers, do you tend to write scenes occurring in the summer because they come easiest to you? I wrote my first book around the place where we used to summer vacation every year, and those scenes always felt the strongest. The love always felt the strongest there, and I think it’s because our memories of those days remain fresh somehow. The magic of summer love and the bittersweet flavor it leaves long after it’s gone.
There’s a comment made in The Notebook that I’ve always loved: “Summer romances begin for all kinds of reasons, but when all is said and done, they have one thing in common. They’re shooting stars, a spectacular moment of light in the heavens, fleeting glimpse of eternity, and in a flash they’re gone.”
What are some of your favorite movies and/or books dealing with summer love? Here are a few of mine.
Kim’s Summer Love Movies
- Man in the Moon (with Reese Witherspoon)
- The Notebook
- Dirty Dancing
- Little Darlings
- Grease
I’ll leave you with an anonymous quote I read that started me thinking about my old boyfriends of summer: “In every girl’s life, there’s a boy she’ll never forget and a summer where it all began.” Who is the boy you’ll never forget?
Summer Lovin’, happened so fa-aast…
Kimberly Mermaid – I was transported back to my days of sunscreen and boys by your post. Summer did hold a special magic and also the sight of all the exposed skin at the pool, flirty summer dresses, the longer evenings – all very sexy and romantic.
My movie suggestion “Say Anything” with John Cusack. It starts at graduation and covers the whole summer. AND – it has my all-time favorite movie quote: “I gave her my heart and she gave me a pen.” Classic.
Robin
Say Anything is certainly a classic! And a great soundtrack to boot!
I know exactly what you mean about the special magic of summer. It was all about the flirting and long evenings with tons of possibilities!
Star Wars!!! Okay, Star Wars doesn’t really take place in the summer and it’s not really romantic. Let’s face it. I just wanted to mention Star Wars! 😉
The boy I’ll never forget was about five years older than me – the town heartthrob. For some inexplicable reason he found a very young, gawky, ugly Kerri adorable. He proposed at the pool. We were supposed to get married on October 15, 2002. I picked the year because I wanted to make sure I was old and wise.
I would have just turned 23.
You’re such a baby! You weren’t even BORN when Star Wars first came out. LOL.
I think I’m going to need some proof in the way of pictures that actually shows a geeky Kerri because I can’t quite picture it. 🙂
And, wow! 23 certainly is on the shelf for the duration, huh?
What a fun blog! Looking back to those teen years, I must confess that I was painfully shy and felt especially geeky with a back brace and braces on my teeth. I won’t even go into my angst over my abundant freckles and not-so-abundant bust. Needless to say, I didn’t have myself a summer fling during those years, but I sure did meet some cute boys and they caused all sorts of fluttery sensations and thoughts. 🙂
Summer and angst go hand in hand. I remember being so painfully aware that I had thin ankles that I went around the beach with bobby socks on to cover them up. Some of the older boys and girls laughed at me. I thought for sure they were laughing at my ridiculously thin ankles until my mom looked at me like I was crazy and told me that they were laughing at the way I ran right up to the water’s edge with my bobby socks on and then quickly took them off, balled them off and threw them towards my towel. Hmmmmm. What was I THINKING??! LOL.
Very funny! I didn’t even know we were supposed to be concerned about ankle size. 🙂
Oh, Katrina. I had so many hang-ups that it’s impossible to list them all. That will have to be a whole different kind of blog. LOL.
But, I do have to say that I’ve come a long way. No more bobby socks for me. I proudly strut my teeny tiny little ankles all around town now. 🙂 And at the beach as well.
I forgot to mention summer love movies! Going back to my younger years, Meatballs comes to mind. It’s not your deep love kind of story, but it sure shows some of the awkwardness of crushes at that age. And Little Darlings with Tatum O’Neal and Kristy McNichol. It was quite bold at the time, if I recall. It’s also a summer camp movie, but about two teens with a bet about who can lose their virginity first. One does meet a summer-love kind of guy in Matt Dillon. A teenage Cynthia Nixon (of Sex and the City fame) is also in it. Say Anything has to be one of my all-time favorites.
Love this post, Kim!
Summer always makes me think of Sleepovers, drive-ins, sneaky drinking, and water–any kind of water, as long as you can sink into it. One of my favorite summer movies is Sandlot. 🙂 And Grease is a classic. I also love THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING PANTS.
Heck yes about the drive-ins. I was driving past one just the other day, and it brought back so many memories. Lots of sneaking in inappropriate items. 🙁 I think summers are meant for sneakiness. Looking back on that time, it was all such fun, but I’m not sure if I’m up for being a mom of the sneakers. (Not the shoes but the kids. LOL)
Kimberly, what a great post and kudos on the fabulous imagery! You took me right back to the sights, sounds and smells of summer.
When I think of movies featuring summer love I think of The Notebook and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Mamma Mia, West Side Story and Grease are also wonderful movie/stage shows that fit this bill perfectly.
I regret to inform you that I have never seen Mama Mia. Isn’t that a crime of some sort? I’m making it my mission this week. I absolutely loved The Notebook. But now every time I’m at the theater and they play that satire with them on the beach where they have the voice over about Not Adding Your Own Soundtrack, I laugh. Not really a laughing kind of moment. 🙂
Now I’ve got “Summer Lovin'” stuck in my head, thanks to you! Grease was my all-time favorite movie as a kid. I made my dad rent it from the video store so many times, he finally just asked them if he could buy it (this was back before video stores had videos for sale; the owner just charged him what she had paid for it.) Come to think of it, only about 2 minutes of the movie was set in the summer, and the rest was the repercussions of a summer fling. Sigh. I think you are right; there really is something special about those summer relationships.
My brother is nine years younger than I am, and I had him completely convinced when he was little that Grease was his favorite movie of all time. I’d say all slyly, “Jeff, I know what you want to watch. But just once, okay? Then we have to watch something that I want to watch.” God, how gullible can the young ones be???? LOL. As an adult, I don’t think he’s ever forgiven me, but then again I probably helped him with the ladies. 🙂
Hey, Kim! Summer is already but a memory for me. I’ve spent the past two weeks in the Northern Hemisphere and landing in the freeeezing Southern Hemisphere this morning was quite a shock. Take me to the Catskills and ‘Dirty Dancing’, please!
My first summer love–Andrew. He was 21, I was 16. (yes I know but it was okay). He worked as the assitant manager of Long John Silvers and I worked the salad bar at Wendy’s next door. He had an awesome truck. My friend, Sonja and I snuck out to drag main that Friday (we were supposed to be back home by 9pm–yeah right). My mom had the cops out looking for me at 11pm. But I met Andrew and his best friend, Doug. We went to the lake with Andrew and Doug and didn’t return until 1130p to be surrounded by police–trouble was–my step dad was one of the police. I was grounded but Andrew said he’d wait. We went out on our first ‘date’ a month later at the carnival in town. Good times–good times! (If my daughters ever did this–they would be grounded forever! LOL. Do as I say . . . not as I did!) 🙂
Fave summer movie? Oh wow! I’m going to date myself and say going downtown to the old movie theater while visiting my grandparents to see the opening of the original “Raiders of the Lost Ark”–I had a thing for Harrison Ford. 😉
My cousin (8 at the time) who went with me found his phobia for snakes by watching it.
American Graffiti! I was in high school, boyfriend and I were going to the movies so we could make out in the dark for a couple of hours. We got really good seats in the very last row and… the theater started filling up… we were too shy to make out in THAT kind of public, and then the movie was too amazing to look away.
Yes, we broke up and no, we didn’t forget. Our friendship began again as a *friendship* three years ago after a thirty-year break. I am still incredibly happy with my own dear married life, but am very grateful for someone who knew me in ninth grade, was my first kiss, and still willing to own up to it.
Hey Kim! Sorry I’m in late on this awesome topic!
Fave Summer Lovin’ Movies:
Grease and Selena
Hadn’t thought of my own summer lovin’ summers in quite a while. It was pretty cool thinking of them while I read your post and everyone’s stories.
Oh my gosh, this post transported me back to the three summers I spend at the State University of New York (SUNY) Fredonia Summer Music Camp and the three boyfriends I racked up there. Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re all thinking, “once, when I was at band camp…” Actually I was a singer and they were all band players, but they were so incredibly cute, hormones were raging and time was short. It’s amazing how much love and fireworks you can cram into a two-week camp 🙂