My Reverie

My Reverie

Sam W. Joseph

                             Preface

“Sometimes I wonder, how I spend

The lonely night dreaming of a song

The melody haunts my reverie

And I am once again with you

When our love was new

And each kiss an inspiration

But, but that was long ago

Now my consolation is in the stardust of a song

Beside the garden wall

When stars are bright, you are in my arms

The nightingale, tells his fairytale

Of paradise, where roses grew

Though I dream in vain

In my heart it will remain

My stardust melody

The memory of love's refrain

Though I dream in vain

In my heart it will remain

My stardust melody

The memory of love's refrain”¹

                                                           1967

The Wurzburg juke box in the officer’s club at Bethesda Naval Hospital was playing some of the latest pop hits and couples were dancing lively to The Twist. Laura sat at her table watching her friends on the floor with their partners. They had finished their shift on the hospital floor and decided to join the Happy Hour at the club before finding dinner somewhere. As she smiled at the gyrations of her friends, a tall, uniformed, handsome Lt. Cdr. appeared at her table, greeted her and asked if he could sit down.

“I’m Rick Jackson. I’m with the flyboy group that just arrived and are trying to figure out how to do “The Twist”.

“Why aren’t you out there with them?” she asked.

“I’m a little too old for that stuff”.

She noticed that he was more senior than the others. “How do you fit in?”

“I’m the squadron commander”.

“Oh, I see”.

“Can I get you a drink?”

“A coke would be fine”.

“As he went to the bar, she saw his cap lying on the table cover down. When she glanced inside it, she saw a piece of paper inside the plastic lining. On closer inspection, she noticed that it contained line by line instructions on “How to ditch your airplane in the event of an emergency”. It was a reminder of the dangers of the occupation of flying and probably why aviators generally chose to live life at its fullest, whenever the opportunity arose. In some fashion the same was true for the nurses who lived with life and death on almost a daily basis.

Rick returned with the drinks and sat down. He took out some marbles and began to roll them around in his hand and said, “I’m sorry if I’m not very good at small talk. I’m a bit out of practice.”

“Why is that?, she asked.

“Well, we ended it after 7 years of marriage. I ‘m just recently divorced.”

“What happened?”

“It’s hard to say. We were in love and things were going well for a while. Then one day she said that things weren’t the same anymore. It seemed the only good times were the old times. We used to be best friends but we didn’t talk anymore. When you don’t like the direction of the conversation, you just change it. So, It just fell apart after that and we decided to call it quits.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, It’s probably for the best. Say, would it be crazy if I asked you to dance with me.”

“No, I’d like that.”

He held her close as they danced to Tony Bennett singing in his raspy voice.

He inhaled the perfume in her hair as they swayed to the tune and felt as though he were flying among the stars. Suddenly, he felt a burden lifted and he seemed to be young again. He began to sing along with Tony.

Fly me to the moon

Let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like on

A-Jupiter and Mars

In other words, hold my hand

In other words, baby, kiss me

Fill my heart with song and let me sing forevermore

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true

In other words, I love you

Fill my heart with song

Let me sing forevermore

You are all I long for, all I worship and adore

In other words, please be true

In other words

In other words

I love you ²

As they walked back to the table, he wondered what was happening to him. He swore that he would never let this happen again. No woman would ever get to him again like his wife had. He hated the distance that had formed between them; he hated what his life had become. Now suddenly, he was feeling something he hadn’t felt in years.

Over the next few weeks, they developed a relationship that became a love that they couldn’t avoid. They saw more and more of each other, until one day Rick proposed and Laura said, “Yes”.

Only a week later, as they were walking along the canal of the Potomac River, he said, “I have to tell you something. I’ve received orders to a carrier stationed in the China Sea. It seems we’re going to step up operations in Vietnam. I’m sorry Laura. This kills me, but it’s only a year and I’ll be back.”

She began to cry and he consoled her as best he could.

Six months later, she was on the ward and a friend said the Commanding Officer wants to see you.

“Why would he want to see me,” she thought.

“I’m afraid I have some bad news. Rick’s plane went down in Cam Ranh Bay. They recovered his body and they’re shipping him home.”

She went into shock and her body felt numb. This couldn’t be. We had plans. We were so happy. It was unbelievable. She had seen this happen to other people. It couldn’t be happening to her, but it was and it would require a long time for her to recover.

A year later, her friends had cajoled her into going to happy hour with them and she sat at her table watching them dance, her coke on the table in front of her. The flyboys were in town and her friends were on the dance floor with some of them. Memories flooded over her and she began to sob softly

He walked up to her table and said. “Hi, I’m with this bunch of flyboys. Do you mind if I sit down?”

She looked at him through misty eyes and shook her head no.

He sat there quietly, then said, “I’m sorry but I’m not good at small talk.” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out some small marbles and rolled them around in his hand. She just stared at him.

“Oh, don’t mind me. I just do this when I’m nervous and it relaxes me.”

“Could you tell me what your relationship is with these flyers.”

“Yes, I’m their squadron commander”.

“What’s going on here,” she thought. “This doesn’t make any sense.”

He said, “This may sound crazy but would you dance with me?”

Suddenly she looked into his eyes and saw something familiar and she said “Rick, is it you?”

He laughed and said, “That’s close. I’m Dick. Dick Johnson.”

He led her onto the floor and they began to dance to a Frank Sinatra song.

Strangers in the night

Exchanging glances

Wandering in the night

What were the chances

We'd be sharing love

Before the night was through?

Something in your eyes

Was so inviting

Something in your smile

Was so exciting

Something in my heart told me I must have you

Strangers in the night, two lonely people

We were strangers in the night

Up to the moment when we said our first hello

Little did we know

Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away

And ever since that night

We've been together

Lovers at first sight

In love forever

It turned out so right

For strangers in the night

Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away

Ever since that night

We've been together

Lovers at first sight

In love forever

It turned out so right

For strangers in the night³

           He began to sing along with Frank. She nestled into his arms and thought, I don’t know if I’m dreaming or if this is real. I just hope it never ends.

^{1 Songwriters: Carmichael Hoagy / Parish Mitchell, Stardust lyrics © Reservoir Media Music, Wb Music Corp., Kosher Kandy, Emi Mills Music Inc., Black Scarf, Gemini Syndrome Llc, Gumpofwump, Songs Of Peer Ltd}

^{2 Fly Me to the Moon, Lyrics by Songwriter: Bart Howard}

^{3 Strangers in the Night, Songwriters: Bert Kaempfert / Charles Singleton / Eddie Snyder; lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group}