Dee Dee

When I was 16 I had a friend named Dee Dee.  I loved this girl.  She was smart and funny and a perfect fit.  She and I and our other friend Marilyn were all best friends that summer of 1973.  

You've heard me refer to that summer as one of the best times of my life and my friends were the reason why.  The three of us had a very special relationship.  At an age when girls squabble and fight for the attention of young men we were somewhat uncommon.  For that moment in our lives we were all very grounded in our relationships both with the opposite sex and with each other. 

Not that life was perfect - it wasn't.  When I think back on the turmoil in each of our lives at that moment in time its a miracle any of us survived but due to the love and unconditional support we gave each other we made it through.

Then one day she was gone from Santa Rosa- just like that - gone.  Marilyn had moved away the summer before the trio that once felt like they could rule the world had dispersed.  It was an incredably lonely time in my life.  I had other friends - good friends but there was something special about the three of us. 

Then just after I graduated from high school she reappeared in Santa Rosa.  I was at a Lion's basketball game and she walked into the gym with James Dodge.  I was sitting on the opposite side of the gym where all the "cool kids" always sat and I jumped up and ran down to the door.  I was so happy to see her.  She moved in with me for several months before I moved to Santa Fe.  Then I was the one who was gone -

I never saw her again.  I have no idea where she is or how her life turned out.  She was from Denver originally and I've thought about trying to find her many times but I don't even remember her a last name.  When I knew her it was Encinias but I that was a fleeting name for a fleeting time.

But where ever your are Dee Dee - I think about you often and I miss you.