Sweet, Wonderful You. You Make Me Happy With the Things You Do...

Previously, Chapter Two: I Can See Her, Her Brown Skin Shining in the Sun, Smiling at Everyone...

The more time I spent with Susan, the more I learned about her family and their traditions.

There were many family gatherings at her house and in Stoughton at her sisters, who had a three-year-old daughter and another on the way. Susan thoroughly embraced being "Auntie Susan".

The Fourth of July was special in Susan's family. Irv hosted it in his small, pine-needle-covered backyard. It was nothing fancy: burgers, dogs, and chicken wings, with potato salad and Irv's homemade coleslaw. All the food was set on lightweight aluminum folding tables covered by festive paper tablecloths, surrounded by plenty of folding aluminum lawn chairs, the kind with woven webbing. Back then, all we needed was each other to have a great time.

Irv built a fountain out of decorative stone and concrete, with a human-form Greek statue where the water came out, and he turned it on for every 4th of July celebration. I had become accustomed to seeing him getting in and out of his plumbing van in their circular driveway wearing heavily worn blue Dickie work clothes, but on this day, he was cleaned up and wearing a red and white horizontally striped shirt with an embroidered sailboat on the front, and a casual pair of shorts. I seem to remember him wearing that shirt every 4th of July I attended.

The Fourth of July at Susan's house was an all-day affair. Their house was an eighth mile from South Main Street, where the family stood with friends and neighbors and watched the parade. Susan watched the parade from that same spot her entire childhood, and now I was enjoying that tradition with her.

After the parade, we all headed back to the house for food and great conversation. By nightfall, you began hearing firecrackers being set off by kids on Gunhouse Street, which ran perpendicular to Harold Street and led to the lake. As soon as it was dark, Irv would grab a couple of folding chairs for him and Gloria, and he and everyone else would take the short walk down to the public beach at Lake Massapoag to watch the fireworks. Susan loved the fireworks.

After the grand finale, we all returned to the house for dessert. In addition to falling in love with Susan, I had fallen in love with her entire family, and that gave me a better understanding of who she was. Initially, because of how beautiful she was, I thought she was sophisticated, maybe even too sophisticated for me, but she was really a small-town girl with strong family values.

As her 18th birthday approached, I got excited about making it special. I wanted her gift to be something she'd love and cherish, so I was determined to find her a worthy piece of jewelry.

I headed to Robert's Jewelers at Cobb's Corner to look for something special. There I was, a knucklehead if there ever was one, peering into glass display cases for the perfect piece of jewelry. A young girl approached, the owner's daughter, and asked if I needed any help. This was an entirely new experience for me. Other than to get my watch fixed, I had never been in a jewelry store as a shopper.

She asked me if I was looking for a gift, and I said I was. "A gift for my girlfriend…" I loved how that sounded coming off my lips for the first time.

She asked if I was looking for a necklace, bracelet, or ring. It all sounded so unfamiliar and feminine, but I liked it. I was in a completely different state of mind. For the first time in my life, I was in love…

I started thinking, necklace, bracelet, or ring? Definitely ring!

The sales girl asked what type of ring I had in mind. I had no clue, so I simply said, "I'm not sure…"

She directed me to a display case full of rings. "Do you want gold or silver?" she asked. I knew Susan preferred 14K gold and that silver caused problems for her skin, so I replied, "14K Gold."

She started showing me gold rings with birthstones, but I didn't like any of them. Then I saw some different-looking rings with white stones and asked her about them. She said they were Opals, and no two were alike; each one differed from the other. I was immediately drawn to one in particular.

She explained, "That one is special. It's a pear-shaped Opal with lots of fire. The colors are nothing short of magnificent."

She removed it from the case and handed it to me. "You see the fire? It has the most fire of all of them, and it's unique that it's pear-shaped…"

I liked it! Then she said, "This one also has three diamond chips that enhance the ring's beauty, none of the others do…"

I had never fallen in love with a piece of jewelry before, but this ring gripped me. I would've paid anything to see it on Susan's finger. It was more than I could afford at the time, but I bought it anyway. There was nothing too good for Susan. 

The sales girl said Susan could bring the ring in anytime for resizing, which was included. She gift-wrapped the box for me.

Susan's birthday was still two weeks away, and I was getting antsy. I wanted to give it to her, but I knew I was supposed to wait until her actual birthday. 

I kept the ring in my glove box, so whenever we went out in the GOAT, it was right in front of her, tempting me to jump the gun… 

Advertisement

I was so fucking excited! 

One question remained: Could I be patient and wait until September 5th?

Sweet, wonderful you
You make me happy with the things you do
Oh, can it be so?
This feeling follows me wherever I go…