She walked backward a few steps and then headed to the kitchen.
“Wait up!” I said, then waved to Nikki. “Let’s go help her look.” I walked shoulder to shoulder with Markie, Nikki followed.
Once we were behind the partition she said, “Thought I was going to take off, huh?”
“We have a little reason to believe that,” Nikki said.
Markie sighed. “Atlanta is so big. I’ve seen it on TV. If my mom didn’t keep me, why would your mom? I’m not perfect like you.”
“Stop saying that. Nobody is and no moment has to be,” I said. “You helped me see that.”
Markie’s expression didn’t change. I didn’t know what to say to her. Being a friend was all I could promise. Like I learned from the divorce, only time and actions made the hurt hurt a little less.
Before she grabbed her bag, I hugged her. When she pulled away, I held on. Just as I was about to let go, she hugged me back. Then she squeezed me tighter.
“I know Aunt Vie wants you and me to be friends forever. You have more memories of her you can share with us. And we’re all making new ones every day. My mama made a big mistake and Aunt Vie stepped in and did what she could. But you and I both know, Markie, that Aunt Vie would want you with us. I know you feel that, too.”
She didn’t nod, didn’t speak.
We stood next to each other. If she went out the door, I wouldn’t try to stop her again. She stepped away from me and my heart fell down to my stomach. Right before she reached the door, she grabbed the backpack on the counter and hitched it on her shoulder.
“Atlanta, huh?” she said
I nodded. “Well, Snellville, actually.”
She ran her hand along Aunt Vie’s bracelet.
A moment later, the three of us walked back into the dining area. Everyone gathered around us.
“Can I really come live with y’all, Ms. Katrina?” Markie said.
“Do you want to, Markie?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Markie was as scared as we all were. As scared as Nikki with the fear of moving to an unfamiliar place. As scared as I am at the thought of my best friend moving thousands of miles away and my new school full of faces that I’ve never seen. As scared as Aunt Vie must have been when she couldn’t remember the names of common items in her home, diner, and then of the people she’s loved all her life.
We all walked back together to Aunt Vie’s. That paper mill was just as stinky as ever and the heat was burrowing down like it was sure to reach well over one hundred degrees before noon. As we walked, talked, and laughed, no one complained.
The closer we got to the house, I couldn’t wait for Markie to tell Aunt Vie that Mama had invited her to come stay with us like her mama had wanted her to years ago. But if that had happened there’s a chance that Aunt Vie and Markie wouldn’t have the bond they share. And maybe Peaches would have never come along. I’ll never have the memories of Aunt Vie that Markie has and that’s okay. I have the ones that we’ve created this summer and summers to come. Those will last forever, like memories should.
As the three of us walked to see Aunt Vie, I thought of how we worked together to fight that bully that snatches memories away. It didn’t matter what the upcoming days would bring, I was certain, as certain as I’d ever been, that there was almost nothing that we couldn’t do when we put our minds to it and gave it our best.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
To young readers and caretakers whose loved one is changing because of the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, remember that their memory of you remains in their hearts. Thousands of young people share this sense of uncertainty and loss all over the world. Even though there is currently no cure for Alzheimer’s, advances are being made. That is encouraging for all of us.
Like many, I have loved ones courageously fighting this battle. We continue to cherish memories and create more whenever possible. When I would sit with my grandmother, she’d ask me, “Do you hear the children singing?” Except for our breathing and her words, the room was quiet. But each time she asked, I said, “Yes.” Later, I wrote about that moment and shared it, then others shared memories, too.
Ultimately, Alzheimer’s will not win. Through each of us, our families’ and friends’ memories will last forever.
For more information and ways that you, your friends, your community, and your school can help combat Alzheimer’s disease, please contact:
alz.org
usagainstalzheimers.org
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The publication of a second book is an answered prayer. It is a joy to share Forever This Summer with the world, especially with characters set in my fictionalized hometown, Bogalusa, Louisiana. I hope the town takes in stride any creative license I took. It is all out of love for my birthplace. Thanks to my cousin Debra Ann Sampson for her Bogalusa insights, and to the Sampson family, those living and the ancestors, especially my great-uncle McClurie Sampson Sr., whose legacy continues to be an inspiration. And my great-aunt Elvie, who I don’t have many memories of, but her food was some of the best I’ve ever tasted. As a note, the names of real-life family members in Forever This Summer don’t represent the actual person but my appreciation of the name and the spirit of it.
To say the least, 2020 was topsy-turvy. But my landing at Little, Brown for Young Readers was an unexpected blessing. I thank each member of my LBYR family for your support, especially my editor Liz Kossnar and her assistant, Hannah Milton. Special thanks to Victoria Stapleton, Christie Michel, Alvina Ling, Megan Tingley, and all those working behind the scenes. Thank you, John Rudolph, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret, for all your time and guidance. And I look forward to many future works with my agent Tanya McKinnon and Carol Taylor, editorial director, of McKinnon Literary Agency. And to the talented illustrator Vashti Harrison, thanks for your gorgeous artwork.
Love Like Sky’s Acknowledgments thanks many friends and family members. Though I cannot reiterate all of their names, I hope each knows that my appreciation is forever, especially my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention my cousin Dale Shepard, whose name I previously jumbled, and my cousin Wendell Harris, who I didn’t mention. Both errors were mistakes of the head, not the heart.
There is rarely a week that I don’t talk to at least two of the following confidants. Thank each of you for filling my life with laughter and love: Jerilyn P. Harris, Patricia Elder, Laverne Dutkowsy, Valerie McGrady Blake, Eric Hodge, Angela Ray, Niami Thompson, Erica McNealy, and Lily Shepard Carter. And a special thanks to my biggest social media cheerleader, Aunt Jeanette Thomas. And my parents, Winston and Daisy Raby, whose support is immeasurable, as well as my grandparents, who watch over us.
My siblings are treasures. Jerilyn P. Harris, Randall J. Raby, Winston Raby, and Isiah Raby, your love and support means everything. To our heavenly brother, Samuel C. Griffin, you are loved and missed every day. And so that they can know all their dreams are within reach, much love to my nieces and nephews: Nikkol and Khaylin Harris; Cameron, Isaiah, Leah, and David Raby; Daylan Raby; and Melody, Mia, and Malakai Walker.
Thanks to Tokeya C. Graham, who champions Love Like Sky and was one of the first readers of Forever This Summer; Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, for being a second pair of eyes on anything I send her way. Thanks to Andre Langston, David Bryant, and the Wake-Up Club of 103.9 WDKX for their ongoing support. WDKX was the music in my world before I was a writer. I appreciate We Need Diverse Books for assisting me and many other authors in time of need. Dr. Scot Brown, Marita Golden, Cathy Booker, Ciera Robinson, Linda Sue Park, Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes, Terry Kennedy (UNC-Greensboro MFA Program), Angie Thomas, Paula Chase, Laura Pegram, Janice Rickerman, Curtis Rivers, Marva Gardner, Martha Bridges, Virginia Perkins, The Avenue Blackbox Theatre, Rochester Black Authors Expo, Women’s Foundation of Genesee Valley, Rochester Area Children Writers and Illustrators, WXXI, #5amwritersclub, and Facebook Family for motivation and support.
Thanks and love to my friends and family in Atlan
ta, Georgia, throughout Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and Rochester, NY. And Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, who continues to keep us in prayer.
As always, special thanks to all the teachers, librarians, and readers who work selflessly to get books in the hands of young readers and encourage writers, myself included, to keep writing.
And to each young reader, thank you for reading my work. I look forward to hearing from you.
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©Sarah Salvilla
LESLIE C. YOUNGBLOOD
received an MFA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A former assistant professor of creative writing at Lincoln University in Missouri, she has lectured at Mississippi State University, UNC-Greensboro, and the University of Ghana at Legon. She’s been awarded a host of writing honors, including a 2014 Yaddo’s Elizabeth Ames Residency, the Lorian Hemingway Short Story Prize, a Hurston/Wright Fellowship, and the Room of Her Own Foundation’s 2009 Orlando Short Story Prize. In 2010 she won the Go On Girl! Book Club Aspiring Writer Award. Born in Bogalusa, Louisiana, and raised in Rochester, she’s fortunate to have a family of natural storytellers and a circle of supportive family and friends. She is the author of Love Like Sky and Forever This Summer.
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