Ah, the end of innocence. I guess it has to happen to everyone at some point and alas, it has finally happened to me. Not to be overly melodramatic or anything, but it’s true and it really does kind of hurt and feel a little bittersweet. As a matter of fact I was driving down Pike street with some Benny Goodman on the radio. I was heading to the market, which is where we used to spend our lazy Sunday afternoons, and that’s when it struck me. At once I was feeling both sentimental and endeared due to our time together but it was tinged with the bitter taste of regret and reality. I had to laugh to myself because I realized that at that moment I understood what the true meaning of bittersweet is. And it is an actual feeling. Anyway, back to my loss of innocence. And this refers to a state of being, not any kind of intimate activity so don’t think I’m headed in that direction. Read something else if that’s what you’re looking for.

Kim and I had been together for the second half of high school. We met in band, she played the clarinet and I played the saxophone. We were instantly drawn to each other and one day she asked me if I wanted to work on a duet piece for our end of the term project. I loved the idea for two reasons, one is I think the clarinet and the saxophone sound great together and the other thing is I had already developed a crush on Kim.

That was the beginning of our true romance and close friendship. We were together all the time and we frequently played music together. We took our instruments down to the Pike Place Market and just played for the fun of it. We were run off a couple of times, but who cares. We also played out in front of some of the cool hotels in the area. Most of our friends were also in the band it was like one big happy family. When we started talking about colleges, even as we were applying I don’t think either one of us was really concerned about what that meant. High school was everything and college seemed to be so far away, like another life or something. When Kim told me she decided not to go to U Dub the first hint of a sinking feeling crept in. Kim decided to go to school back east and we said we wouldn’t put pressure on our relationship we would just see how things worked out. This is our second semester of school and last week I received her phone call. She’s in love with a percussionist in Boston and it’s raining in Seattle.

Related posts:

1. Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love
2. College: It’s Only the Beginning