Thankful for the Memories

I could tell you stories about this girl.
She was living in L.A.
It was her world.
too naive to be afraid or cautious.
just out there living,
thought her life was flawless.
Building, making a living, by a string.
Never knowing how much the money pay day would bring.

These stories I could tell might make you blush.
Have your mouth hanging open,
your head would rush.
Like you had a cocktail.
Did she really do that?
Did she wear that?
No shame.
No sorrow.
No worries about tomorrow.

Between twenty and twenty-five
found a deep,
loving relationship.
made her feel more alive
than ever.
So much time together
they spent.
She hoped would end in engagement.
It didn't.
It was over.
He went his way.
She went hers,
with a broken heart,
wondering if she would ever find love again.
Would she ever stop dreaming of him?
Wondering why it had to come to an end.
It had been so right, for so long.
Until it wasn't.
What went wrong?
Exactly, she would never know.
Bad timing.
Not meant to be.
How could that be true
so in love was she.

Twenty-five to twenty-eight.
the party on pause.
She got her head on straight.
Found love again,
of the marriage persuasion.

Before she would settle down,
with the love she had prayed for...
There were adventures.
There were travels.
So many doors
to walk through.
There were lovers, some forbidden,
made them all the more fun.
Friends, jazz festivals, concerts...
always on the run.
Weekends in Palm Springs,
shopping sprees, girlfriends.
A career.
Her own business
making ends
meet.
It was cool, wild, free,
unerving at times.
A place of her own
-where she wrote her own rhyme.
Lonely days
-especially Sundays.

What there was not...
were any real worries.
Somehow, the rent would be paid.
Car notes would end, without aid
from anyone or anybody
Enough money for that weekend in San Francisco.
That trip to Mexico,
nights at the disco,
margarita drinkin,
glasses full with libation
would be carried out of bars,
into open air cars,
back to the hacienda.
There would be oceans, bikinis and waves broken.
Montezuma would have his revenge.
Oh, but the laughter, and the ocean.
It was worth it.
All of it was...

The party became a wedding.
The girl became a wife,
a mother, a woman no longer waiting
for true love.
Carefree days
became carefull days,
of nurturing,
and the sweet smells of the most perfect baby
she ever would see
The tiny human
How could she ever love him
more?

Days would come when she would ponder
and wonder
what happened to her?
Where did that girl go?
Who is this new person
she has become?
Is the girl still there,
somewhere deep inside her?

The memories alone would give her smiles for years to come.
Glad that she had them
to reflect on
The distance of those days of fun and freedom
would sustain her.
She smiled at that young naughty girl,
and then she exhaled.
Thankful for the memories.