Rememberment, Chapter VIII: A Midsummer Love Story

My first school year was over, and it was time again for one of those childhood summers that seemed to last forever. There would be lots of time spent collecting butterflies with Matti, the neighbour's kid, as well as many nights of staying with my cousins at their farmhouse. And of course, another Free Church summer camp with my dad.

I also had to finally try to properly learn how to ride a bicycle. I still had my training wheels on which was rather embarrassing. Not that there was much anywhere I could ride my bike anyway except for our own dirt road and the yard, as there was yet no bicycle lane next to the dangerous main road.

Our cat went missing that summer. One day, she was just gone. She had gone missing before, sometimes for a few days, but always came back eventually. Not this time. We spent some time searching but in vain. I was sad, but at least we didn't find her dead by the side of the road.

Our family also got invited to a wedding. The groom was another adult relative of mine, a third cousin from Dad's side. I had to go shopping for some clothes with my mom, which I found super boring. I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy the wedding party either - I was familiar with only a few of my third cousins, and those ones weren't coming.

Then the day came. First there was the church ceremony part, which I never liked (and still don't - I can't stand the wooden benches) and then it was time for the actual party. I can't remember much about the place where it was held, except that there was a big wooden building and it took a quite a while to drive there. There were lots of cars and guests, but not many kids and none who seemed familiar to me. I was bummed.

But I was a Good Boy and didn't make a fuss. I ate lots of cake and did my best to enjoy the company of some of my older relatives, who were curious about my school year and my grades. Someone also found some paper and pencils for me so that I could draw, which was basically all I ever needed.

There was also a band that started playing, and then people started dancing. I couldn't care less about that, so I remained at the table and kept drawing. Then my aunt came to me.

"Hey, listen. There's a girl your age who's sitting by the dance floor. She's sad and crying, because there's no one who would dance with her. Wouldn't you go and do it? It would make her very happy."

I was suspicious of this idea. I had no clue who the girl was, and even less of a clue about dancing. But my aunt and Mom cheered me on, and told me what a wonderful gentleman I would be if I'd do this. So I put down my pencil and made my way to the dance hall.

The floor was full of adults stomping and swirling around, and the idea that I would end up amongst them didn't seem appealing. Wouldn't kids just get trampled there? But I thought it was too late to back away now, so I made my way to the rows of chairs next to the ballroom wall. And soon enough, I saw a girl about my age sitting there. She had a pretty dress and a short brown hair. There was a man and a woman besides her - her parents, one must assume - and she indeed looked sad, just hanging her head.

I took a deep breath and walked straight up to her. She raised her eyes from her feet and looked at me, and so I asked (using my insanely thick Ostrobothnian dialect) if she would want to dance with me. She immediately bounced up and took my hand. "Yeah!" She said.

We walked up to a corner of the dance floor, where there was more room to spare, and I told her my name. Her name was Henna. I confessed that I, in fact, did not know how to dance. "Don't worry, I will teach you," she said. Then she placed my right hand on her waist, holding my left hand in hers, and told me that this one was a waltz. Then she showed me how to move my feet according to the music.

Image courtesy of Pixar Studios, from their upcoming movie about my life.
(There is an actual photograph of our dance, but I wasn't able to find it.)

And so we danced, had a little break and then danced some more, and talked about all the things seven year olds used to back then. It was fun. We spent the whole evening together and when the party was finally coming to an end, she hugged me and blew me a kiss on the cheek. "See you again" she said, and we waved each other goodbye.

I kept thinking about her for a long time after that. I also announced to my cousins that I had a girlfriend now, but that we just haven't seen each other in a while. They weren't impressed. "That's not how it works" they said - "if you're not seeing each other, then you're not together". I didn't want to admit it, but I guess they were right.

I asked my parents about her a few times, but they didn't know her family. They also didn't seem particularly interested in finding out.

A few years later, I heard that there had been another wedding at some point and that Henna had been there, asking about me. But for whatever reason, our family didn't attend that particular wedding.

I never saw her again.