Thursday, August 4, 2016

Someday Soon 1970 / Day Lilies / Someday Soon 2016






























Yesterday I looked out on my porch and saw a brilliant golden daylily. Last fall, I dug up the bulbs because they had grown so crowded that there were very few blooms in June 2015.  I replanted only three of the bulbs, thinking I would have plenty of blooms this summer.  Although there are usually blooms in early June, they waited until August 3 this year.  There is no bloom today for me to photograph, but there will be more blooms this week.  Their appearance this year in the early days of August brings emotional healing to me.

This morning while looking for something else, I came across these photos that I took of myself in 1970, just after I had turned 21.  That was the year I waited for the man I loved to return from the war in Vietnam.  He had turned 21 on the day after I did.  The photos were taken with the Minolta camera that he bought while he was in Vietnam and gave to me during those months of waiting during which I attended peace marches in San Francisco.

This afternoon a friend who is dear to my heart and who went to live in Canada during the Vietnam War said that we would be taking a walk again someday soon.  He paused and then said, "Like the song."  I said, "It's always about music, isn't it?"  He laughed and said, "Yes."

We are 67 years young and old this year.  Today is his birthday.  Mine is in October.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this story. Yes, it is always about the music.

Tara said...

well, we did have some especially good music. This version of the song has always been my favorite - it just doesn't get any better than this!

Did your camera have a timer on it? Were these early selfies? I cannot imagine what you must have been going through waiting for your love to return. Such anguish.

Please post flower pictures when they bloom -- it will be a feast for these eyes!

am said...

robin andrea and Tara: You are my teachers in so many ways. Thank you for showing me that good marriages are possible. I wonder if I will experience a good marriage someday. Anything is possible!

Yes. That camera did have a timer. I must have set it up on a chair with books piled on it. My love from all those years ago, using that camera, set up the sweet double self-portraits of us in 1970 on Oahu and 1971 in the coast hills above Half Moon Bay before everything fell apart. Waiting for my love to return was the easy part. As I've written before, he wrote me a letter every day he was in Vietnam, telling me how much he loved me. I did the same. My gut feeling through the year was that he would be safe from harm. The anguish for me came when he returned and was absolutely unable to re-enter life after war. The war came home with him. That anguish for him and for me continued until his death in 2008. Only in the past few years have I felt relief. When I listen to "Someday Soon," I get in touch with that young me who loved and was loved. My heart is open again after all these years.

Colette said...

I am new to your blog but just wanted to tell you how deeply moved I am by this post, and the comments. What a time it was.

am said...

Colette: Thank you so much for your comment and your presence here today.