The cultural phenomenon known as the Summer of Love - a time when young people came together in peace and love and freedom of expression - occurred in 1967 and was centered in San Francisco.
Eddie Thetford was a genuine, flesh and blood result of that unique summer when his future parents hooked up in a park one night after meeting each other at the Monterey Pop Festival.
However, Eddie - who had only ever heard sanitized versions of his parent's courtship - was a product of the 1980s and a member of Generation X, although he never quite knew what the hell that name was supposed to mean or represent.
Yet, as the years accumulated, as they have a tendency to do, he would come to appreciate his generation and their shared experiences. Eddie would look back with nostalgia at the ways things had been and, especially, what it had been like to be young and carefree with his whole life still ahead of him.
He would particularly remember - in vivid detail and with profound fondness - his very own incredible summer of love in 1986.
Growing up in the '80s, before the dawn of the information age when computers, cell phones and the internet came to dominate every aspect of life, people were largely left alone to come up with their own entertainment.
As a member of the infamous "latch-key" generation - those who were left home alone for significant periods of time because both parents held full-time jobs - this was particularly true. In some ways that was unfortunate...but, in other ways it was fucking awesome. Thank God cell phones were a thing of the future because most of the kids back then would have probably wound up in jail.
Of course, there were still video games - ATARI was the big hit at the time - and you could rent movies on VHS tape, which was also a big deal when it came along.
But, for the most part, activities were largely held outside the home, particularly during the summer. You hopped on your bike as soon as practicable in the morning and were gone until the street lights came on that night. Nobody seemed to mind or care that you could be gone all day.
Nobody took your pic every few seconds, or sent a text asking where you were. Instead, neighbors were more engaged with each other and the adults looked out for all the kids in the neighborhood.
Yes, things were slower to some extent. Things were quaint by today's standards, but you didn't know any different at the time. But, it also seemed more peaceful - maybe more innocent in many ways.
Now, what was true about the 1980s everywhere was doubly true in Abbeyville - a little bit of a town in the middle of Iowa some thirty miles north of Des Moines. It was a beautiful and tranquil place to call home. Everyone knew everyone else and the community was almost like one huge extended family. It provided a sense of safety and security - something that seems largely lacking in our contemporary world.
Some families had been in Abbeyville for over a century, and most of them were farmers. For generations, families had been plowing and harvesting the same land, most of it dedicated to corn. Other families were newer but had integrated very well into the community. Those that didn't never seemed to last too long.
Some folks took to farming - some folks didn't. Either way, you learned pretty quickly which way it was going to be. Although, it did seem that during the 1980s more and more people were slowly moving away and the once thriving population of Abbeyville diminished appreciably while those who stayed formed closer bonds.
Eddie Thetford lived in one of several large housing developments in town, just about a couple miles from the center of the village. His particular development was a grouping of some fifty homes situated in an oval design and all had been built in the late 1960s when a surge of newcomers arrived and the population exploded. By the 1980s, things were still going strong but the early warning signs of what was to come were clearly evident.
Eddie's folks worked in Des Moines - his father a banker and his mother in retail, one of the growing numbers of women in the workforce. As such, Eddie was very much alone in an empty house each day, especially during the summer.
He stood a couple inches shy of six feet, was of medium build with hazel eyes, brown hair and a rather cryptic smile that people either loved or hated. Generally speaking, Eddie got along with just about everybody. He blended well with others and kept the drama to zero.
He was also very smart, although usually felt lonely as most only children do on occasion. Being on his own so much probably added to this feeling. Still, academically speaking, he was very successful. On the social side of things, he had a solid network of friends. Although, truthfully, he wouldn't have considered any of them to be close friends.
Overall, however, Eddie was secure and confident, getting along and going along with everyone in his neighborhood and was generally easy-going and well liked - not the most popular person but not the least popular either.
Before computers and cell phones and the internet became ubiquitous, there was always something to do outside. Eddie liked to ride his bike around the block socializing and playing with others - of which there always seemed to be an endless supply.
During the summer, there were many days - or mornings, at least, when he lounged around on the couch watching tv or played Atari...or engaged in his favorite activity of jerking off.
In fact, that was usually the first thing Eddie did when he woke up. Since he normally had a boner first thing in the morning, it made sense. Afterwards, he would go around naked. He hated clothes to begin with. But, after walking around naked, at some point he would get hard again and then rub another one out when he couldn't contain himself any longer.
In the neighborhood, there were all kinds of people to play with and lots of activities to engage in. There was always wiffleball, basketball and kickball happening somewhere. There was swimming at the pond across the street, or a group riding their bikes around discovering things or creating mischief, depending on the mood. There was never any shortage of things to do.
As in every neighborhood, there were two older individuals who liked to think they were in charge. Eddie could never tell if they really were in charge or if everybody simply didn't care about it one way or another. However, these two people always seemed to be making the rules or deciding what activity was going to happen and who could - or could not - participate.
The first of these individuals was a girl named Jill Montgomery and she, much more than the other, was usually the one directing everybody around. That might have been because she was bigger than anybody else. She wasn't necessarily fat...but she wasn't skinny either. She was what people called "big boned" and, at the time, her overall girth lent itself to a larger than life personality that made it easier for her to bark orders.
To Eddie, she was intimidating in every way a person could be and he tried to avoid her at all costs.
Jill stood just about an inch or two smaller than him, but she seemed to tower over everyone. Although, let's be honest here, she was a bossy son of a bitch. That might explain why she seemed to be in charge all the time. Nobody ever stepped up to challenge her.
In addition to her physical stoutness, Jill had naturally dirty blonde hair that seemed to change color depending on the season. In summer, her hair was the color of straw. In the winter, it was dark brown. And, like many girls in the 80s, her hair looked like a bird's nest - or something that belonged on the head of Bon Jovi.
However, despite her size, her massively large pseudo-perm hairstyle and her bullying nature, Jill wasn't unattractive. She had a round face with a cute little nose and deep blue eyes. She also had the biggest set of tits in the neighborhood. They stood out firmly on her chest, despite the extra bulk below, and bounced around rather nicely as she walked. It was almost hypnotizing to watch...which everybody did. This might have been another reason why she was in charge.
Yet, even then - all those years ago - Jill seemed merely a shadow of things to come. You could tell, just by looking at her, exactly what she was going to look like in 25-30 years after she popped out some kids of her own and gravity took hold of her body. She'd be three times her current size, tripping over her tits, with an ass an orangutan would be jealous of.
But, at the time, she was still attractive in her own unique way.
