A Fistful of Weeds and The World Spins Madly On

Darnell asked me to prom every day.

I tried to make excuses.

You’ll have more fun with another date. There are tons of girls who would love to go with you. I don’t like you that way. What about our age difference?

See, Darnell was seven and I was nineteen, and neither of us attended high school. We lived at a camp for kids with cancer, Darnell as a camper, me as a counselor.

I discovered the camp while flipping through an outdated booklet intended for corporate trainers. Hiring for the camp ended in April. It was May. I called anyway. A newly hired counselor quit the previous week, and the director hired me over the phone. He seemed surprised a girl from Indiana called about a camp in New Jersey. I wasn’t. I knew I was supposed to be there.

The director assigned me to the youngest girls, the Robins. The Robins were five-year-olds from low income, inner-city homes. The Robins also happened to have cancer.

I didn’t shine in my new position. Our cabin was filthy. We were late to all activities, and the only time those Robins bathed was when the rain pounded down, and I corralled the girls outside and greased them up with soap.

Regardless of what activity I worked, Darnell took each session with me. If I taught four arts and crafts sessions in one day, Darnell made four bird feeders. If I faked my way through leading water aerobics, Darnell, who hated swimming, bounced along with me.

I finally accepted Darnell’s invitation to the prom when his tiny hands brought me a fistful of weeds, and he told me age didn’t matter when you were in love.

We attended prom and took a limo from one side of the camp to the other. We walked through a balloon arch, and we munched on finger food. All night I wondered how many of the kids on the dance floor would see a real prom.

Two days later, Darnell left camp. No time for good-byes. His white blood cell count fell too low. After Darnell left camp, daily activities and the Robins kept me busy, but my head still drifts to that little boy, his fistful of weeds, and the big life lessons Darnell taught me in the three weeks we knew each other.

Thought of you and where you’ve gone, and the world spins madly on. —The Weepies

What about you? Is there a special someone from long ago that still takes up your headspace? Have you ever known someone for a short time and walked away from the relationship changed?

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