A True Story
In 1975 my parents were having marital problems and in the course of it all it was decided that I would go live with my maternal grandmother on Cape Cod.
I arrived in July of 1975 and I had a blast enjoying the balance of the summer. Swimming, hanging out at Raycroft Beach, enjoying Friday night concerts at the bandstand in Chatham, and more.
Then Labor Day came along and the south side of Dennisport closed up for the season. Easily 95% of the homes were unoccupied at this time of year. All of the businesses closed up and in some places they literally pulled up the wooden sidewalks and put them away.
Upside was at least I got to go to school and I'd catch the bus with the half dozen or so kids who lived in our neighborhood south of Lower County Road.
Over the course of time I got to be friends with a young lady I will call Dawn. Dawn was my same age with me just three days older than she was. Tall, with blue eyes and natural platinum blonde hair. She looked like a princess to me and I was flattered that she wanted to be my friend.
While the fall weather held out we'd hang out with a few other kids and play tennis at one of the shuttered motels along the water. There was no one around to tell us not to.
Then the winter hit. The other kids didn't come around because it was too cold.
Myself and Dawn would go on walks around the neighborhood and explore.
One day we found a nice house like the one pictured above. Over Dawn's objections I went around the back of the house to see if the basement door was opened and it was! In moments I was at the front door and I invited Dawn into the house.
The place had the heat on just enough to prevent a freeze. Best of all it had a TV and a comfy living room where we could hang out.
This became our hideout and for two subsequent winters we did the same thing. We always took care to keep the place clean out of respect for the owners and also because we didn't want to get caught.
In 1977 Dawn and I were older. We were best friends at this point but something was changing in our dynamic.
Dawn, of course, was more mature than I was despite being my same age. She was less playful than before and more serious. But she was still every bit my best friend.
I want to say it was during Thanksgiving break that we were at the house and she got cold and wanted to cuddle in the bed in the big bedroom. It seemed a good idea and we shucked a few clothes and got into the bed to warm up, keeping a respectful distance from each other.
This became a thing for us and over the following weeks we started bumping into each other in the bed, playing footsie, and eventually in January of 1978 we kissed.
Our kissing was very chaste. We were new to this kind of thing and our forays into this new world were patient and often tentative.
Then in February of 1978 came a dreadful storm and blizzard. 100mph winds were reported and in Dennisport there was over two feet of snow. The blizzard lasted three days and afterwards nothing was moving in the area.
Dawn came over to my grandmother's house the day after the storm ended and we went off for a walk to our hideout.
We did our usual thing watching the news from Boston and then Dawn asked me to come cuddle with her. When we got to the bedroom she surprised me by taking off a lot more than before. I followed suit and joined her in the bed.
What followed was for me mind blowing.
After that and on into April we were going straight to that bed every time we got together. We were two young people enjoying something special.
With the good weather in May our hideout was off limits and so our nascent romance went on summer hiatus.
It was sometime in June when I hadn't seen Dawn for a few days and I went over to her house to see where she was. The place was dark and no one was there. I checked on her every day for a week and then one day the "For Sale" sign was posted.
I never saw Dawn again.
So why has this come up?
Back in 2012 I took one of those DNA tests to discover my ancestry. See, there was a ton of bullshit in my family lore and legends and I wanted to know the truth. I found the truth and that's another story.
Forward to April 2026 and I get a match for a 47 year old man named David.
It says he's my son.
In May 2026 (a couple weekends ago) a somewhat younger version of myself shows up at my front door to introduce himself, his wife, and his two kids...my grandchildren.
He told me all about Dawn. His mother.
She's still alive and is living in Wellesley. Her husband passed away a few years ago.
In a couple weeks I'll be going to visit my old friend. We have a lot of catching up to do.
