rhymes with heaven

back in the day, originally uploaded by jill y.

Back when I was about 17, I lived with my boyfriend. Earlier, we had met in a serendipitous manner by, believe it or not, by having a silent conversation from across a street. Punctuated by hand gestures, we connected and one of us crossed the street. That night we went for a walk long down Whyte Avenue to an abandoned slaughter house- our first "date". We explored and talked and laughed. His name was Evan and I could only remember it by remembering it rhymed with heaven. We were together from that point on.

One day we went to a tattoo parlor, on my suggestion, and had matching 8 petal daisies of yellow and green forever etched into our wrists. I still have mine. He covered up his. But back then we cold hold hands and our flowers would match.

On another day, I got an eviction notice from the rooming house I was living in and he invited me to live with him. Everyday he wrote me a note and taped a loonie to it. That was my bus fare to high school. I don't remember much of those days really. Of catching the bus and being in class and talking with friends. I remember being with Evan.

I remember when we broke up. When we cried and I yelled. When I slammed down the phone and when I burned all the letters. I had kept every one in a coffee can. I lite them all on fire and watched them turn to sooty ash in a the crisp white snow, turning to liquid around the corners of the can. And I remember the years he wouldn't talk to me despite my best efforts.

I'm really glad that 20 years later, we are friends again. I met up with Evan at the Edmonton Folk Festival and whatever it was that sparkled in his eyes the day I first met him, I saw it again and adored him still.

IMGP2080.JPG, originally uploaded by jill y.