Martin
They say you never forget your first love.
Richard Seaton and I have many differences. Some could be bridged. Some were complementary. Some we had to let be.
I was first drawn to him during whittling class. His carvings were amazing. He wanted to be a sculptor. Seeing what he could do with a knife and a stick, no shit!
He was just eleven years old to my thirteen when we first met at summer camp near Killarney Lake. He was broader in the shoulders than I, and so was stronger in a tug of war. I was spindlier, and so had an easier time moving on my back in the dirt beneath the lower, roped off sections in the obstacle course.
Rick had a peerless mastery regarding the history of and the battles within the World War II European and Pacific theaters. I could care less about history. I’d chatter on, about my amateur radio hobby and what I was building at home.
Rick didn’t know how to swim, and I did, so was assigned to be his swim buddy. Each time he was asked to float on his back in the cold green pond water, he would inhale some through his nose as he sank and jumped back up, coughing.
“Rick,” I said, “try floating on top of my hands.”
His eyes widened. “You’re not going to drop me?”
“Nope! Now, stretch yourself out on the water. Feel my hands?”
Rick was by now biting his lip. “Yeah,” he muttered.
“Good. I’m gonna let go in a few moments.”
Rick’s voice began taking on some panic. “Please, don’t!”
“Okay, I won’t yet. Rick, can’t you trust me?”
He shuddered. “I can’t trust anybody!”
“Don’t you trust in your Creator, Rick?”
“He’s been no help. Stop, please!”
“Let’s try something else. What’s your happiest memory?”
Rick sobbed. “I don’t have one… stop, or I’ll hate you forever!”
“What kind of a happy memory would you like to have, Rick?”
Rick sang a French phrase, “C’est la vie!”, in a sustained coda, then switched mid verse to Japanese. Sensei Higa, my family bodyguard, taught me enough to realize the next phrase had to mean: ‘The reason I am who I am.’ His body relaxed over my hands as he continued. After finishing all the verses, his eyes were now closed.
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