Sunday's at Spencer Smith

For a few months in the Spring/Summer of 1988, Sundays were spent at Spencer Smith Park playing football.

Well the guys played football, the girls sat on the sidelines hoping for some attention from the guys.

It was not really even a real football game. You were never really sure who was on what team, it was more the guys trying to see who was better at tackling whom. Pretty much all they did was throw around a football, and chase whoever had it to wrestle them to the ground.

I thought it was a blast.

Joe would be there, hamming it up, Paul and Alan would be there to tease all of the girls. Mark would be the voice of reason, and Mike would be there too, dressed just like Axl Rose, never picking up the football.

Sean would be teasing Joanne, and Pat would be his charming flirtatious self.

Corey was who I had my eye on, the reason I was there. I'd had a crush on him for awhile, but he never seemed to want more that a few afternoons alone in his bedroom, so I took what I could get.

Cassandra would be there with little Christopher. She was 19 and the first of us to have a baby. And Michelle would be there with Larry, they were always joined at the hip.

We'd talk about what happened the night before at 404, and figure out what we would be up to for the weeks ahead. We'd discuss important things, like how we hated our curfews, and who was about to get their drivers licence.

We'd smoke our DuMaurier cigarettes and drink our Cokes. Munch on Doritos or fries from the diner across the street.

It was a good time, before Mik died, before I started getting high, before we all drifted apart.

At 16, who could ask for more.

Spencer Smith Park is on the shore of Lake Ontario, home of the Burlington Sound of Music Festival, and one of the prettiest places in Burlington - if you ignore the view of the Stelco Steel Plant on the horizon.

From there you can see the Skyway Bridge, there is a park for the kids to play in, and a walkway along the shoreline. No one ever swims in this part of Burlington Bay, it is pretty much understood you will come out a lovely shade of green if you do.

But there is also a big field of green grass and trees, and that is where you would find us those Sunday mornings, doing what kids should do, just having fun.

It's a good memory, something I think of every time I drive down to the Lakeshore. The kind of memory everyone should have, the kind I hope my kids will have some day too.