Kevin came over to say goodbye before we left. I hugged him, knowing I would miss him and our time at the cottage. In a July 21, 1997 journal entry, I wrote:
I’ve been overflowing with emotions lately. It surprised me a little how saddened I was when we left Rochester. I miss all of the friends and family we saw there! I often find myself thinking about Kevin and our cottage. On the way home, I was reading about “chance” meetings in a Catholic magazine Grandma let me bring on the trip. I thought about Kevin and Harry when I read it. I thank God that we had the opportunity to meet such nice, friendly people. I would like to write to Kevin and make a card for Harry and one for his wife, who is in a nursing home with Alzheimer’s. I hope that we are able to keep in touch with them this year and maybe see them next summer if we rent the cottage.When we returned to Richmond, Virginia, I was left feeling like I wanted more to come of my relationship with Kevin, but eventually I resigned myself to accepting reality: we are 17 years apart in age; I was still a minor; he already had a girlfriend; and we lived five hundred miles apart. At that point, the potential problems with me being a devout Catholic and him not wanting to have anything to do with the Church didn't even occur to me."
