Rekindling the Relationship

It had been over 25 years since I first Ben. We were teens growing up in the projects. It all happened on the 4th of July. We were gojng a bus ttip to the Washington Monument in Washington DC our nation's capitol. It was also a day that I never forgot.

The day started off with preparation for the trip. We were making sandwiches while my fried up some chicken. We had to do other chores before we left. My sisters and I cleaned up the bathroom and we had to make sure our room was clean also.

Our mom checked behind us before we could pack our bags for the trip. It was just for that evening, you would have thought we were going camping or away for the weekend. Lol 😆 🤣 😂 We had blankets, pillows, hats, sunscreen and other odds and ends.

We then helped our mom pack the cooler with water, kool-aid, yes, that was the drink back then. To me, no one made kool-aid like my mom. Of course we had soda and other drinks because my mom always made sure we had whatever we needed when going on a trip. ☺😁 We put other things in the cooler, like potato salad, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, and of course those sandwiches we made. Mom packed up the cake, cookies, and other snacks. She was particular about how certain things should be packed.

Once everything was ready we carried everything down the hall to the elevator. Sure hope it works today because we lived on the tenth (10) floor. Yes, we could har it coming up. We loaded everything on the elevator. Down we went to the first floor.

Once the elevator stopped, we unloaded everything and went across the street to the recreation center. That's where we were leaving from. My mom went inside to sign us in and get our tickets.

We waited what seemed like forever before the buses came and we could load up and be on our way. We had to board the bus according to what building we lived in. I lived in the Lexington Street building. Our buses were the 3rd and 4th ones. Since I wasn't on the same bus as my mom she packed me some food, drinks and snacks to eat on the bus. She told me where to meet her once we got to the Washington Monument. I sat on the front seat of the bus because it was crowded and that's where my mom told me to sit so I wouldn't get lost. Smh I wasn't a little child, but I understood with so many people going.

That's how I met him, Ben. I never saw him before today. He was my partner on the bus. We had to remember who we sat with for head counts. Ben was cute. I was a little nervous or shy should I say. We introduced ourselves and began to talk. I shared my food with him. Strange, I never saw him around before. He didn't go to my school. He didn't live in my building. He was just there. Did I say he was cute? He was. He also had a nice smile, Ben

We arrived at the Monument. I got off the bus to meet my mom and help with things. We found a spot to spread our blankets and put our food. We were given our instructions and off we went. We walked around the Monument, took pictures, played in the water, and as instructed returned to our spot for dinner and to prepare for the fireworks.

I ran into Ben again. We sat on the same blanket and watched the fireworks. They were amazing 👏. I don't know if it eere the fireworks or the brief kiss we shared, because it seemed like fireworks 😀 to me. Well, it was time to go and we packed up our things and returned to our bus. We had to sit in our same seats. Cool 😎. I got to sit by Ben again. I'm all smiles 😃 😁 😊. We talked. I rested my head on his shoulder and slept. Turns out, we both slept until we got back to the recreation center.

We arrived back in Baltimore. Once we got to the recreation center I had to go meet my mom and help unload our tjings. I said bye to Ben and that's the last time I saw him.

It's 25 years later and I run into him. I'm not sure at first, but I never forgot thst smole. We have a casual conversation. He tells me his name which confirms who he is for me. I'm thinking since we talked about our childhood and I told him my name it meant something. He asked if we could keep in touch. We exchanged nimbers. We kept in touch for awhile before we decided to go out on a date. We decided on a movie and dinner. The movie was nice, not sure what it was. Lol 😆 We went Bennigans for dinner. I had shrimp Alfredo and he had steak. We talked about the movie. Somehow that's when he dropped the bomb 💣 😳. Ben didn't remember me. He explained why he kept in touch when we met. He liked my smile and just wanted to get to know mr. He apologized and hoped that we could continue to talk. Of course I was disappointed at first, but since he wanted to keep in touch why look a gift horse in the mouth. Corny 😀😂🤣. We kept in touch for awhile. We went out a few more times. Each time I realized that we didn't have much in common and he was starting to bore me. Sorry to say it didn't last and I cut it off. Ben kept calling and I would make up some excuse hoping he would get thr message. Eventually he did. That was the last I heard from Ben