WEEK 98
THE DEPARTURE WEEK
Wednesday January 5 - Thursday January 11
If I would have wanted to plan something like this it would not have worked out
This week begins with my 26 th wedding anniversary
And ends with my much awaited trip to Spain!!!
PART 1
The Anniversary Song
The old music cassette must have been left in my car by my husband.
Mystified I sat in my car and held it between my thumb and index finger. I brought the cassette closer to my eyes for a better inspection. Subsequently, I raised my eyebrows. It sure was a relic. I wondered how it had survived for so long.
In an instant images returned from secret hideaways in the corners of my mind and I remembered the exact moment it happened. Ah, yes… I say to myself, and put on a smile, as the scene from my memory unfolded; Pepe reaches into our faithful, mile-packed, red, hatchback Honda Civic, and with a victorious smile brings out the worn out cassette, he closed the car’s door for the last time ever with satisfaction, makes a funny grin and waives it at me like he had just won an Olympic medal. Next, he kept the cassette in one hand and with the other gave the keys to the anxious, young Korean man that had just signed the bill of sale.
The transaction was complete, and they shook hands. Without more ado Pepe and I walked over to my Dodge Stratus holding hands and talking animated about our plans. He dropped the cassette in the glove compartment before buckling his seat belt.
And it stayed there forgotten until now.
Oh, I knew that cassette well. It had an eclectic variety of music recorded in the late 90’s by our teenage daughter before we moved from Spain to the United States. The songs went from hard rock to folkloric Spanish songs. The mix was mostly unbearable. In time it became ancient history for Sandra, and ended tucked away in a box. Nonetheless, a couple of years ago the tape resurfaced while my husband was looking for some old photos.
Pepe’s car radio had stopped working, and I always heard the same thing… and I quote ¨I never have the time to go fix it¨. Because the car model was pre-CD players, the only other option to listen to something besides the humming of the car’s motor was a cassette. Which we had none… or so we thought until that day he opened the box. When my husband held that old tape in his hand I am sure he said ¨BINGO!!¨
From the moment he inserted the tape in the player its music accompanied him to and from work for months on end. The red Honda with its peculiar sound track became a family joke.
Today I was just looking for a pen when I found the cassette. But I figured I would play it for old time’s sakes. Besides, lately for some unknown reason I can only listen to three boring A M radio stations. Listening to the odd selection would certainly bring back happy memories.
FOUR MONTHS LATER…
I am sick of this tape. My radio died shortly after I found it and it is all I have to listen to. I don’t know how Pepe did it…. He deserves a medal just for putting up with it.
Nevertheless, I keep playing it. Fast forwarding it or backtracking to one particular song. Its title is HIGH, although most people know it by Forever You and Me, and it was sung by the group The Lighthouse Family. If I thought I liked it when it first played in the radio years ago, today it softens my heart, but above all it fills me with hope on days when I miss my husband the most.
The first verse goes like this:
When you're close to
tears remember
Some day it'll all be over
One day we're gonna get so high
And though it's darker than December
What's ahead is a different colour
The lyrics fit my present like the wedding ring that has been on my finger for 26 years. I began fantasizing every time I listened to it; I saw myself dancing with my husband to this song. Furthermore, it became so dear to me; I declared it our pending 25th Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration song.
And as I drove to work on crisp winter mornings I daydreamed of reuniting my children and family for a few summer days in a cruise ship. And that Pepe and I elegantly dressed and having practiced to perfection would sway around the dance floor to everyone’s delight.
In a few days I will reunite with my husband in Spain. In a few days I will start planning our past due wedding celebration.
I look forward to this summer. To the day I rejoice and dance to this song with my husband.
Happy 26th Anniversary Baby!!!
This song is for you.
Thank you for leaving the old cassette in the car.
Kiss. Kiss. Kiss.
I love you!
Lyrics
When you're close to
tears remember
Some day it'll all be over
One day we're gonna get so high
And though it's darker than December
What's ahead is a different colour
One day we're gonna get so high
And atThe end of the
day
remember the days
When we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the
night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close till the end
We'll remember it was me and you
'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky
of love
Don't you think it's time you started
Doing what we always wanted
One day we're gonna get so high
'Cause even the impossible
is easy when we got each other
One day 'we're gonna get so high
And at
The end of the day
remember the days
when we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the
night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you.
'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky
of love (x2)
High, high, high, high.(x2)
And at
The end of the day
remember the days
when we were close to the edge
And we'll wonder how we made it through the
night
The end of the day
remember the way
We stayed so close to till the end
We'll remember it was me and you.
'Cause we are gonna be forever you and me
You will always keep me flying high in the sky
of love (x3)
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