Beginnings The first thing I notice is that the airport, now called "International," is an hour outside of town. I guess Orlando has outgrown the cozy, downtown airport of my youth some fifty years earlier. Climbing into my rental Corolla... I fasten the safety belt. My father bought it at Sears last year. This is my mother's car, a '49 Ford sedan. I have just turned 16 and was able to pass my driver's exam on my birthday. My mother has given me $5 for my first "driving" date. I have trepidations as I start the engine, shift into first gear and... I pull out into the airport exit lane. Right away I notice that the miles and miles of orange groves have been replaced by thousands of apartment complexes, all built since my departure, but already showing signs of age and disrepair. I begin to think of the fresh faces of my classmates, now approaching 70, and especially my steady girlfriend Joanne. Traffic is slowing ahead of me so I... Ease my way onto the two lane blacktop toward Joanne's house. With $5, I can buy a gallon of gas, burgers, fries and drinks for both of us and admission to the Rimar Drive-In Theatre, where on previous double dates we sat in the back seat never out of view of the rearview mirror. Tonight we will be in the front seat and, more importantly, we will be alone. The air is starting to chill as I... Slowly hit the brakes, coming to a stop in the bumper to bumper traffic. Finally, I pass the accident scene and resume speed, heading to the former Orlando Youth Center building which is now a function room available for rental and tonight the home of my 50th reunion. Arriving at the parking lot I... Open the car door and welcome Joanne in, waving to her parents looking out the front door. Tonight Joanne has a surprise. She has bought me a shirt for my birthday. "Now", she says, "put this on and take me dancing. They have a new Dee Jay at the Youth Center and I am dying to go." Arriving at the parking lot I... (First published in Veils - 2020)
