Picture it: Summer 1993, Las Cruces, New Mexico, the moist, green grass of the north mall of New Mexico State University smelled as good as it looked. I was 14, lanky, long haired, too cute for my own good and way too "smart" for anyone's good, especially my own. And what thought would enter my "oh so cute, oh so smart" little head that fateful day? I wanted to spend time with a boy I had met only the previous day at church. He was fun to talk to and nice to look at and charming to boot. My cousin told me a fair few things about the boy: he was 18, just graduated from Mayfield high school, played soccer and football, and had been dating a girl named Connie who was away for the summer. My grandma had always told me, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder, for somebody else!" So, abiding that notion, I set to work on my plan: Operation ELY ALLINGTON. I was visiting my cousin, Angie, and her family and spent most of the summer in Las Cruces that year. Ely was the primary reason for my extended stay. He was sweet and handsome and fun and attentive. When he found out I was only fourteen I thought he would lose interest. He was visibly disappointed that he'd be entering college just as I'd be entering high school. It was a scandalous age gap at the time.
That day at NMSU went something like this: Angie called Ely, asking him if he'd like to join us at THE PIT, a place where college bands played for small audiences on the grounds of the university. Next thing I knew he was there, in the flesh. His black hair glimmered in the sunlight. His tan skin seemed to glow beneath his faded blue shirt. He took his hat off and swept his hair out of his eyes. I was done for. That very day we walked about hand in hand as if we'd been doing that forever. Being with Ely felt natural and right. But how could it be? I wasn't even allowed to date until I turned sixteen. Besides, wasn't he dating this elusive Connie that he never seemed too anxious to talk about? Beyond these complications was the fact that he still had a two year mission to serve, probably abroad, and I had four years of high school ahead of me. Odds seemed dismal.
Ely worked at Baskin Robbins. Suffice it to say I've tried at least 31 flavors in my lifetime and at least 24 of those flavors were sampled that very summer with Ely. Ahem, this is not a metaphor, for those of you whom I know are reading into my words here. No, no, he really let me sample just about every flavor. Well, at least the ones I was interested in.
The summer went by way too fast. There was lots of ice cream, holding hands, long phone calls and even slow dancing involved. I found myself really liking this boy. I felt torn and upset about the fact that I'd have to return to my parents' home in El Paso and start high school.
After weeks of mournful stewing I was somehow able to convince my parents to let me live with my cousin and her family in Las Cruces! I registered for my classes at Mayfield, moved virtually all my possessions into my cousin's bedroom that we'd be sharing, and commenced planning my future with Ely. What I hadn't bet on was Connie's return and what that would mean.
Needless to say things didn't work out with Ely. Connie came home, they broke up after she heard about me, Ely became withdrawn as he prepared for his mission to Japan, I started dating someone my own age (that made Ely seriously upset), and I eventually moved back to El Paso after less than one semester at Mayfield.
I never forgot my darling boy in the pink Baskin Robbins collared shirt. I would sometimes picture him as he was on the night he got his Eagle Scout: stalwart, serious, bold, handsome, and masculine. I remember crying about it one night on the bottom bunk under a sleeping Angie, just pleading with God to somehow bring us together when the time was right. Who knew it would take nearly 20 years?
TO BE CONTINUED...
