Summer 2014: Legos. Pictionary with friends. Watching ice bucket challenges and not
getting nominated. I had a countdown for the last hobbit movie. Thought I was into Star Wars for awhile. Still had sleepovers with my friend. How to Train Your Dragon 2 soundtrack. Rain on a metal roof and thunder. Old animated movies. Cool mornings. College orientation.

Summer 2015: Was not in school this summer. A n x i e t y. New neighborhood. Riding bikes, riding bikes, riding bikes. Petsitting for hours a day, seven days a week. Country Baptist church. Extended family. Babysitting and walking to the playground with skin red in the heat. Last time I watched Lord of the Rings.

Summer 2016: My first job. Olympics. Parties at the library. Summer reading. Olympic events for kids. Pokemon Go players walking into the library. Sweating outside in jeans. VBS in a church basement. Half-term of summer classes with a professor named O'Rear. Sociology videos.

Summer 2017: In between degrees. My last summer at the library. Fire station visits, police dog visits, summer reading. Drama and loneliness. Colleges and scholarships spread all over the dining room table. S T R E S S.

Summer 2018: Cousin playdates. Dollar General blow-up pools. My first car. Garden vegetables. Petsitting a goldendoodle. VBS. Babysitting a huge family with kids who spit on me and ran away. Wattpad comment threads. Summer school and papers and discussion boards.

Summer 2019: Mattie. The girls. Indoor playgrounds. Picnics outside in the shade. Kids' shows on Netflix. Library programs. Wrecking my car. Verity's staycation and hot, heavy air. Coconut and mango popsicles. Bean bag toss. Stranger Things. Last summer with class.

Summer 2020: Still with the girls. Stuck at home. Long grass. Free school lunches in brown bags. Chalk and paint. Job searching. Interviews in masks. Riots on TV. Memes about the world ending.

Summer 2021: Feeling awful. Thunderstorms. Art with Jasmine and the night we stayed up till two. Family reunion. Doctor's appointments. At work all the time. Seeing kids midday and forgetting school was out.