The scene was a pathetic one. There I was, seventeen and on the white sandy beach watching the waves crash on the Florida shore. I was a ball player, athletic and tanned. Bikinis were as plentiful as grains of sand; but I was oblivious to them and the bodies inside them.

My parents thought there might be something terribly wrong with me. My parents didn’t see the chaos going on inside me because I wasn’t over her yet. Dad even dusted off his old drugs and alcohol lecture just in case that was the problem.

Drugs or any kind of fun was the last thing on my mind. I couldn’t look even look at a beer. This was the summer before my senior year, I was in the sunniest place in the world and all my mind could focus on was my ex-girlfriend and the breakup that had me in a million little pieces.

I had left the Midwest happy. I kissed her goodbye and everything was great. She was great. After years, I had found a girl who got me. She was cute and sweet, not beautiful maybe, but she didn’t have to be. She was intelligent and interesting and made every other girl in my high school look like a waste of time. I was the luckiest guy in town, and then I blew it.

The worst part of it all was that I had no idea how I blew it. I sent her a gold necklace in the mail. We talked on the phone every night. I loved this girl. One phone call ended in a small argument. It wasn’t a major fight. I was bored and missed her terribly, and like an idiot I took it out on her. She broke up with me, end of story. But, there had to be more.

Dad was close to throttling me out of my funk. I was ruining the summer, but I couldn’t help it. The last straw was the morning I cussed out a little seagull skittering down the beach in front of my feet. Dad ordered me to get over it then and there.

I thought the picture would be clear when I got home. I figured if I at least knew why I would be able to move on and get over her. There wasn’t. There was no other guy… At least thats what she said. We spoke in the halls when school started again, but it was almost like there was no acknowledgment of what had happened. No explanation ever came my way. I was so confused that I didn’t even try to get her back.

What did I learn from that breakup? I learned that I understood exactly nothing about women. Trouble is, not much has changed since then.

-K. B. Ryan, 37, sales

Tagged with: •

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!