Memories

Driving home tonight and listening to the radio, I heard a song that brought the memories flooding back from 30 years ago. The song was "Sailing" by Christopher Cross and it took me straight back to Italy 1981 when I was 13. The words and music (I have to admit) brought a few tears to my eyes and for a little while I was lost in happy memories of my teenage years and that wonderful summer of 1981 when, as a family, we drove down to Baia Toscana, near Follonica, and rented an apartment on the beach. I, of course, fell in love with a Dutch boy called Sylvain Van Pomeren (where are you now, I wonder!) and had my first real kiss.

"Sailing" would often be playing in the bar where we used to go for a drink in the evening and where I would meet up with Sylvain and the other gang of teenagers while our parents sat in groups talking. Now I'm 43 and a parent of a teenage girl older than I was then, I wonder where on earth those 30 years have gone...The funny thing is, I don't feel 30 years older. The memories are still clear in my mind after all those years and if I close my eyes I can still picture Sylvain on his surfboard, his blonde hair shining in the sun and the way he used to grin at me.

Enjoy!