Rabbit Box: Summer Lovin’by Melissa Harward
Why is it that love usually comes to us in the sweltering months? School is out, and it seems like everyone has sweet summer romance on their mind. It’s an iconic notion, from flashes of Grease to beach fronts and first kisses. Last Thursday, our Rabbit Box storytellers brought us their tales of Summer Lovin’, butterflies, and bittersweet goodbyes, all wrapped up in hope, hilarity, and heartbreak.
Former Rabbit Box storyteller Tara Stuart made her first appearance as Master of Ceremonies for the evening, and welcomed everyone at The Foundry to reflect on their own story of summer love.
Our first storyteller of the evening was none other than Rabbit Box founder, Marci White. Marci shared a story from her travels in Israel, where her 17 year-old self falls for a stranger. The connection made with him expands beyond their fleeting summer romance to somewhere Marci never expected.
In the summer of 2004, Robby Bailey had two goals: One, to be Carrie Bradshaw and two, to kiss a boy. After stumbling into a surprising crowd, Robby struggles to realize his second goal, but learns an important lesson about being yourself in the process.
Laurie Allen, teacher and mother extraordinaire, reminded us all of the importance of having a core group of friends, those you know will pick you up, carry you through, and get you home.
You want your first date to go perfectly. Unfortunately for Naji Lyon, not everything falls quite into place for his first case of first love in the summer of 1992. Thankfully, he gets a couple more chances to get it right.
Our crackerjack storyteller of the evening was Rabbit Box veteran Ivan Sumner, who had the audience rolling with laughter with his tale of a thank-you gift to his wife back in 1972.
After leaving home, Mark Evans joins the United States Army and finds himself at the invasion of Panama in 1989. With his brothers in arms, he finds that some of the deepest connections we make in life don’t necessarily have to be romantic.
Paul Guillebeau has a reputation for making the Rabbit Box audience laugh and cry with his stories, occasionally at the same time. This particular tale about the many loves of Guillebeau on a cotton farm in South Georgia happens to be hilarious.
Madelyn Powell told of the power that just a few people possess to make changes for a cause they love. In this case, Madelyn works her way through the Atlanta political scene in the 1980’s and saves her original summer love, Willie B.
Sometimes, the most heartbreaking part of saying goodbye is the thought of “what if?” Christopher Becerra reminds the audience that it might be better to let a summer love live in memory.
Rabbit Box thanks its numerous volunteers and supporters, and will return on September 10th with Busted!. As a reminder, Rabbit Box will return to Wednesday evenings in 2016.
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