It was the summer of 1967, well not really…but my best friends and I believed that it was. We wanted to relive the time where the only responsibility we had were to go in search of peace, love and good times. I do not know the exact day that our summer began but there was vinyl being played on my record player and the echoes of a singer’s voice belting out a falsetto… ”Chichiwahwah” and so it had begun…
Honeyflea was still mending a broken heart. She was finding any way possible to patch up her cuts and bruises. She abandoned her painting and drowned herself in her writings in hopes that the ink she poured on her make shift canvas would erase the pain. I most recently felt that pain and for the first time in our friendship, finally, I was able to understand her. Last Sunday we spent the day together laughing, crying, hugging, holding hands and listening to music to express the emotions that we could not express otherwise. A thunderstorm swept through our day and our nite and washed away all the pain and troubles that we were having especially with each other. The Summer of Love taught me, Love should always be unconditional or not at all.
Lead
Like all lessons in love…my summer would not have been what it was without Cokie. She had just moved back from the West Coast. (I kid you not…Cokie and I are sisters separated at birth. We have a connection that some might be jealous of, but understanding for sure.) She returned just as the Summer of Love was getting started and when I needed her most. Cokie has this ability to hold her head up no matter what happens in ones life. She never falls, she never breaks and even though she bruises quite easily, she has the ability to push through anything. I admire that about her…hell I love that about her. She is not one to wear her heart on her sleeve…but she did cry once this summer, well her eyes filled up with tears but they were not heavy enough to fall, typical of her. The Summer of Love is not over for her and I have a feeling that she is going to fall…in Love of course!!!
Love
I am like a broken vinyl record being played in the “Chichiwahwah” home as you can hear me recite over and over…”If I only had half the love that you and Shoe have, I would be happy”… a conversation repeated over and over to Mima. Without her, there would not have been a Summer of Love…everyday I learn more about love by watching Mima and her Shoe’s dance moves. They graciously trip over each other’s feet. Shoe selects what song they dance too…and Mima leads. The choreography is flawless and I hope one day I can open my heart again and learn the dance.
Too Love
Back in 1967, the summer of love might be remembered as a summer full of psychedelics and music festivals, my summer of love will always be remembered, as the summer that changed my life. I will always remember to Love, regardless of what season it is…
(excerpt from a story: Heavy Heart, Soulful Journey by Victoria Anne Josephine)
