The Last Summer

The summer I turned seventeen, I worked at a campground in the mountains. Fifteen of us, from different states, thrown together for three months. We worked hard but at night we came alive — bonfires, swimming at midnight, talking until dawn.\n\nI fell in love that summer. Her name was Maya. She played the ukulele and laughed like music. Three perfect months.\n\nAt the end of summer, we promised to stay in touch. We didn't.\n\nI'm thirty-two now. I still have a photo from the last night, our arms around each other, faces lit by dying embers.\n\nThat summer taught me that the best things in life are temporary. And maybe that's exactly what makes them so precious.