This is so much more than just a bridge. A bridge of my youth. It was a gathering place in the summers; my friends and brothers and their friends meeting to jump off the bridge into the emerald waters below to escape the searing, dry heat. It was a platform on which friendships were built and tested. It was a path to my girlfriend's house: over the bridge and beside the river through a grove and then a field to a small house. It was my first kiss and my first heartbreak. It was where we went to measure the river's rise in the spring with the melting snowfall and the subsequent freeze in the winter. It was fun and laughter and tears and friends that turned to foes that turned to friends again. It was challenge and growth and sorrow. It was therapy and dreaming and reflection on who I was and more importantly, who I wanted to be. It was so much more than just a bridge.
