Jamie was a city boy with country grandparents. Every summer his family went back to the family farm to stay in their own home on the edge of the property. They all pitched in with the summer chores. His mother went from Teacher of the Year to farmer’s daughter quicker then you can blink.

When Jamie was eight, he met Judi. They spent the summer doing what all country kids did at eight. They ran through fields and hid in the corn. There were kittens to watch grow in the barn. They had vegetables to help plant, harvest, and eat. It was the first summer of many they would share.

Eight turned into eighteen in a hurry. Never before had Jamie looked at Judi as anything other then the friend he caused mischief with each summer. Over the years, they had switched from hide and seek to swimming in the local hole with other friends, but always they hung out together. They were best friends.

This summer there was something different. A spark went unsaid but they both felt it. Friendly hugs suddenly felt warmer. They were touching hands more often. There was still friendship but it had shifted a bit. Neither said anything to the other, it just seemed to flow into something more.

This would be fine in the normal course of things. Some parents would have been proud to see their children fall for their childhood sweet heart. However, this was not to be the case. Judi was of a station in life that did not take to dirty country boys as son in laws. What was worse in Judi’s parent’s eyes was that Jamie was white.

They had never discouraged the kids their friendship as they played on the neighboring farms. They had never said anything before because they saw no reason to. It was after all just for the summer and a few letters during the school year. However, this was different.

Judi’s family was old money. They had bought their land as soon as the Civil War had allowed it. They did not get their hands dirty and had not for generations. There was no question that Judi wouldn’t either. They had their pride.

Summer had ended but the boy had stayed to help his grandparents. He was to take over the farm since they were getting to old to do more then teach him. He was happy for it. This life was so much more peaceful then that of his siblings lives in the city. Here he knew what to worry about and how to get through most of it.

Judi had decided to go to college with in driving distance and was working toward a degree that would set her up in family tradition.  She tried to do things her family’s way and respect their wishes to keep things light between her and Jamie. After all she was black in a small town who still have not left all of the past behind.

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Forbidden love or not, love is what the young felt. They did their best to hide what others saw blooming between them. One night as the harvest moon filled the sky, Jamie filled Judi with love and promise. Both held each other close in Jamie’s bed as the sun rose over the fields.

Judi was more then happy as she arrived home to get ready for school. Jamie was walking 10 feet above the corn as he prepared to harvest it. She hid her ring on a chain around her neck. He never felt a thing after the robe was tightened around his.

The first-born great grandchild ran through the fields that her father had loved to tend each summer. Her skin was a wonderful golden brown. Her mother lived in the house he had spent so much time in. She taught at the local high school. She wore a ring that stood true to the young love she had lost to her family’s intolerance. She wore her loves grandmother’s ring with the first. It was given to her the day the baby was born.

His family was now hers as sure as it always was. Her family seemed to never had been even though they still lived a field away.