the bench circa 1986

I can’t believe I’m sharing this today. It was the 80’s, so what can I say? 😉

I’ve shared about Mt. Baldy before, one of the important locations in The Truth About Drew. A few scenes take place on a bench up there. This is the bench I pictured when writing. Simple. Logs on each end and a couple boards stretched across the middle. My childhood best friend took this photo of me in 1986. I was 13. Almost the same age as Claire in the book.

I thought it would be fun to share this picture of the bench. If you were to visit Mt. Baldy today, you would see an entirely different bench, which stands in a different spot than this one. The new one is big and bulky with a tall back on it. Much sturdier. But I much prefer the bench of my childhood.

Here’s a little excerpt from one of the Mt. Baldy bench scenes:

Old leaves from autumns past crunched under her feet as she walked along the familiar path. A squirrel ran across in front of her with a large nut in its mouth. There was rustling in the bushes to her right. Every sound seemed amplified and she was beginning to feel a little paranoid. She had walked this path dozens of times before, but always with Drew. Never alone. Where she normally felt happy and peaceful walking up that hill, now she felt sad and lonely.

She glanced over her shoulder at nothing, then took the old railroad tie steps to the top as quickly as she could. As she pushed past the branches of the big pine tree at the top, she spotted someone sitting on the bench. Her heart nearly burst out of her chest with happiness. She felt like running to embrace him, but she approached slowly, afraid she was dreaming or that it wasn’t actually him. But it was. That sandy blond head of his was bowed forward a bit, his eyes were closed, and it looked as if he was deep in prayer. He opened his eyes and smiled at her without a word.

Claire sat next to him, anxious to be close. Tears stung her eyes. She had so many things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t find the words.

He took her hand in his.

“You saved my life.” She looked into his eyes as she spoke. “How did you do that?”

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