Our memories are strange and unwieldy beasts. Have you ever had a song grip you in its power, sending you back through the years to a time and place you hadn’t been in ever so long? The memories flood in, often mysteriously surpassing the pleasure you felt in the actual moment. What’s with that?
Two kids, just a year into marriage, dealing with the unavoidable stalling of our lives imposed by the US Navy and the war in Vietnam. Alone in this unknown town, just happy to be together in a 60 dollar a month “furnished” apartment with nothing but space heaters to work against the oncoming chill of fall. A bed with a mattress so compromised that it collapses into a “V” in the middle under the slightest weight. The only way to lie down on it is to levitate first and then approach it sideways. I, pregnant with Baby #1, crouched over the sewing machine, shaping soft flannel into cozy little nightgowns in baby colors. Sunday dinners with the church families that scoop us into their circle for these five weeks. Walks to the old fashioned soda fountain downtown to pour a gigantic cherry vanilla shake out of its stainless cup into two glass goblets. A Thanksgiving Day row on Lake Nasworthy, complete with a high wind that nearly overpowers us. One Rock Cornish game hen to share between us, stuffed to perfection. After all, what do I know about cooking turkey dinners? I will say that my pumpkin pie is superb.
Do I miss my traditional family Thanksgiving celebration? Frankly, no. Glen Campbell is singing “Wichita Lineman” on the radio. “And I need you more than want you, and I want you for all time”. It’s true. We have everything but money, but who really needs that? We are complete.
This is where his song takes me, after all these years. Time and perspective magnify the sweetness of the memory to the 10th power. A gift for this time in my life.
