Read Jaye Frances | Writer in the Substack appAvailable for iOS and AndroidGet the app Photo by Crew on Unsplash

Picnics by the lake, family vacations, fireworks on the fourth, and cookouts on the beach — all staples of the season and treasures of summers past.

As I sift through the touchstones of my youth, I find most of my recollections have been tempered by time — the details faded with age. And yet there’s one special memory that always transcends the years with perfect clarity, still stirring ...