Summer of 1981

We were best friends since 7th grade. We went from playing volleyball barefoot on the hot, prickly grass at Niu Valley Intermediate to sneaking out with boys in the cool moonlight of Kahala Beach. The summer of 1981 was our last together before college would whisk us apart. We were consumed with getting the darkest tan, catching the most luscious waves, and curling up in the sinewy arms of our surfer boys. From the balcony of her parents’ Kahala condo at night, we swore that the street lights spelled out “Van Halen.” It was proof the world belonged to us.