First Love

I was just a few months away from being 5 years of age, but like many others, I was already in kindergarten. I was with my friend, Arturo. He and I were trying to check out books at the San Diego County Library in San Ysidro. We were having a hard time because we could not speak English. And then she came. Her name was Norma Rogers, I saw her for the first time. And then she spoke. I'll never forget what she said. I never saw anyone so pretty, as she said: "These boys are trying to tell you that they want to check out a book." And then she smiled at me. That smile did it. I didn't know what to do as I felt a gentle warmth encompass me. I guess my face got really red. I can't say for sure. However, I know this: I was introduced to a brand new feeling. It felt good inside but at the same time it was funny, curious and mysterious. Yes, it was brand new. I guess many experiences are brand new when you are that age; but some have a greater impact than others. Time passed and I never saw her again. Then something unusual happened. I was working in the shoe department at Sears in 1967. She came in with her husband and greeted me. She was an attractive woman, and she smiled that smile. But twenty years later it didn't have the same effect. I told her that I knew her. She didn't remember me. And that was fine. Nevertheless, in spite of the innocence of the experience, Kahlil Gibran's thoughts on the subject might be applicable. "Every young man remembers his first love and tries to recapture that strange hour, the memory of which changes his deepest feeling and makes him so happy in spite of all the bitterness of its mystery."