THE DAY I WILL NEVER FORGET

THE DAY
THAT I
NEVER
FOTGET

IN PREPARING THIS SHORT TALK I WORKED OUT THAT I HAD SPENT
OVER 17,000 DAYS ON THE PLANET, BUT THIS IS THE STORY OF THE
ONE DAY I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET. IT WAS MID-JUN AND THE SKY

JUST AFTER DAWN WAS THAT PALE DUCK EGG BLUE WITH NOT A
SINGLE CLOUD IN SIGHT WHICH PROMISED A PERFECT MIDWEST

DAY: BY AFTERNOON THAT PALE BLUE WOULD CHANGE TO A
DEEPER ALMOST TURQUOISE HUE AND THE PERFECT WEATHER
MATCHED MY PERFECT MOOD. I HAD JUST GRADUATED FROM HIGH
SCHOOL, HAD A PART-TIME JOB AT THE LOCAL A& P AND ON THIS

PARTICULAR SATURDAY I HAD PLANS WHICH MATCHED THE
WEATHER IN THEIR PERFECTION.

MY FATHER WAS CELEBRATING HIS 36TH BIRTHDAY AND THAT
AFTERNOON AND EVENING, AND WE WERE HAVING A HUGE FAMILY

BARBECUE TO CELEBRATE: GREAT UNCLES, GREAT AUNTS, AND
UNCLES, AND AUNTS, AND COUSINS I'D NOT SEEN IN YEARS . THEY
HAD ARRIVED THE NIGHT BEFORE AND WERE SLEEPING ALL OVER
OUR HOUSE, IN TENTS IN THE GARDEN, IN SLEEPING BAGS IN OUR

SUMMER HOUSE.
BUT THAT WAS NOT THE MAIN SOURCE OF MY JOY ON THAT
PERFECT SUMMER MORNING. THAT EVENING I WAS TAKING TANYA
ERIKSSON TO THE COUNTY FAIR, AND IT WAS FROM A DREAM OF
TANIA THAT I WOKE JUST AFTER DAWN TO FIND THE BIG BROWN
IMPLORING EYES OF MY ENGLISH SPRINGER SPANIEL ZIPPY STARING
INTO MINE. HE DIDN'T NORMALLY SLEEP WITH ME BUT THE CHAOS
CAUSED BY THE GATHERING OF THE FAMILY CLAN MEANT THAT THE
ORDINARY RULES OF DAILY LIFE HAD BEEN SUSPENDED FOR THE

WEEKEND.
WITHOUT THINKING, BUOYED UP BY MY GLANCE OUTSIDE AT THE
SKY AND ALL THE ANTICIPATED PLEASURE OF THE NEXT 24 HOURS,

I GOT STRAIGHT OUT OF BED, CREPT AS QUIETLY AS I COULD
THROUGH THE SLEEPING HOUSE WITH ZIPPY IN MY WAKE FULL OF
PURPOSEFULNESS AND ENERGY – THE KIND OF ENERGY THAT YOU
HAVE WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE TAKING TANIA ERIKSSON TO
THE COUNTY FAIR. IN MY EYES TANYA WAS THE MODEL, THE ZENITH
OF FEMALE BEAUTY: LONG RED HAIR, PIERCING BLUE EYES, SKIN AS

PALE AS THE MOON, SLIM AS A BIRCH AND WITH THE MOST
TANTALISING LAUGH OF ANY WOMAN I'VE EVER KNOWN – BEFORE
OR SINCE. HER FACE WAS OFTEN EXPRESSIONLESS, BUT I COULD
MAKE HER LAUGH, OR AT LEAST I COULD IN THAT PERFECT SUMMER
IN THE PAST. WHEN SHE LAUGHED, HER EYES WOULD LIGHT UP, THE
SOFT SKIN AROUND HER EYES WOULD WRINKLE, THE CORNERS OF
HER MOUTH WOULD TURN UP, AND I COULD ONLY SEE A FUTURE IN
WHICH MY CAREER, MY VACATION, MY CALLING WAS TO MAKE TANYA

LAUGH.

I WENT TO THE KITCHEN AND QUICKLY DOWNED A CUP OF COFFEE,
ZIPPY HAPPILY FOLLOWING MY EVERY MOVE. I HAD ALREADY

DECIDED ON PERFECT START TO THIS PERFECT DAY. I TOOK THE KEYS
TO MY MOTHER'S NISSAN AND STROLLED DOWN THE DRIVEWAY. I

WAS GOING SWIMMING WITH ZIPPY IN THE IRRIGATION CANAL JUST
OUT OF TOWN ON THE OTHER SIDE. IT'S A FUNNY SENSATION WHEN

YOU DRIVE THROUGH YOUR HOME TOWN EARLY IN THE MORNING
WHEN MOST PEOPLE ARE ASLEEP. I LIKED IT. I DROVE PAST THE

HOUSES OF FRIENDS FROM HIGH SCHOOL, THE HOUSES OF FRIENDS
OF MY PARENTS, HOUSES OF TEACHERS WHO TAUGHT ME: I

THOUGHT OF THEM ALL SAFELY ASLEEP SECURITY OF THEIR HANDS.
MANY OF THEM OF COURSE I WOULD SEE LATER THAT DAY EITHER AT
FATHER'S PARTY OR A COUNTY FAIR. AS I PASSED THE GAS STATION,

OLD RICK RAISED HIS RIGHT ARM IN A KIND OF INFORMAL SALUTE
TO ZIPPY AND ME.

THE CANAL WAS PERFECT FOR SWIMMING: DEEP ENOUGH TO DIVE
INTO AND WITH LITTLE DANGER FROM WEEDS AND WATERY

UNDERGROWTH, SINCE IT WAS ROUTINELY DREDGED AND KEPT
CLEAN. I’D BEEN FISHING AND SWIMMING IN THIS CANAL SINCE I
WAS 8. I GUESS I LOOKED UPON IT AS MY CANAL BUT THEN MAY BE
EVERYONE IN TOWN DID. ZIPPY, BEING ZIPPY, PLUNGED HEADLONG
INTO THE WATER, RAISING A STREAM OF SPLASH INTO THE AIR. I
DIVED IN AND FRONT CRAWLED TO THE OTHER SIDE IN A BURST OF
ENERGY AND JOY. THE WATER WAS COLD, OF COURSE, BUT WITH MY
HEAD AND CHEST ABOVE THE WATER THE SUN WAS ALREADY WARM
ENOUGH TO MAKE THE SWIM INVIGORATING AND CLEANSING. IT
HAD THE FEEL OF A NEW BAPTISM TO MATCH THIS PERFECT DAY.

I SPLASHED WATER AT ZIPPY WHO SEEMED SIMPLY HAPPY TO BE
ALIVE. BUT THEN I BECAME AWARE OF SOMETHING STRANGE. AT THE
EDGE OF THE CANAL MY FEET WERE HALF-BALANCED ON THE ROUGH
CONCRETE BLOCKS THAT HAD BEEN SUNK INTO THE EARTH SIDES OF
THE CANAL TO PREVENT EROSION, BUT I SLOWLY BECAME AWARE OF

SOMETHING SOFTER, SOMETHING MORE MALLEABLE BENEATH MY
FEET.

I PUSHED MYSELF AWAY FROM THE BANK TO GIVE MYSELF ROOM TO
DIVE DOWN AND INVESTIGATE. I DOVE INTO THE MURKY WATER, MY

HANDS GROPING DOWNWARDS AND TOUCHED A HUMAN BODY.
USING ALL MY STRENGTH I HAULED AND HEAVED WHOEVER IT WAS

TO THE SURFACE.
AND THEN MY PERFECT DAY WAS ANNIHILATED AS I FOUND MYSELF
LOOKING AT TANYA’S LONG RED HAIR, THE PALE REFECTION OF HER

SKIN AND HER LIPS NOW TAINTED BY THE FAINT BLUE OF DEATH.
I NEVER MADE IT TO THE COUNTY FAIR.