Monday, January 2, 2012

The Radio

This Relic is a classic Zenith AM/FM Long Range Tube radio and came to my collection from the estate of the parents of my wife Brenda.

It actually doesn't work as I type this. I will be looking into repairing it.

I added it to the collection because my Father had the same radio as long as I could remember. It saw daily use. It was my fathers constant companion.

I was so excited about getting it I sent a photo of it to my siblings and I received this from my sister Wanda:

OMG!  I loved that radio.  Even when the fabric covering the speakers went tattered and torn, I still tuned in.  I remember how rich the sound seemed (remember- we're speaking in comparable terms)  I'd listen to faraway AM broadcasts at night.  For some reason, you could pick up channels at night that you couldn't get during the day. We could also occasionally pick up TV channels. My fondest memories of that radio are of Dad making cuttings with it next to him.  He was listening to either talk radio or 40's music.

In fact-  I must confess one of my most favorite memories.  I've only shared this one with Bobby, but I'll now share it with you guys as well-  Mom used to tell me how wonderful life was after the kids were no longer under foot.  When I was in college, I used to worry about her.  I called her every day and wrote her a letter at least every other day.  I worried about her life without children (empy nest and all).  I was the last in her life, and because of that, I knew all about all that had come before me.  My occasional telephone calls could never replace six children.  I really worried after college when I married and we had all moved on.  Then one day, much later, something remarkable happened.

I was helping Dad at the nursery; I wasn't in the business at the time; I was coming to help get him get caught up- cuttings, repotting, etc.  I would come on weekends (listening to above said radio in the potting shed) and pot or make cuttings late into the night.  It was the greatest therapy for me at the time.  (Until I got locked in the potting shed by accident- but that's another story).  Anyway, I showed up early one weekend morning.  I walked up to the back porch and heard loud music.  I peered in the door and saw the vision that has affected my life ever since.  Mom and Dad were in the livingroom- dancing!  At 7:00 a.m.!  They were in their pajamas! Listening to the local radio station (on said radio)- dancing their asses off!  How awesome is that?!- To see your seventy-something-year-old parents dancing their asses off in their own livingroom at seven in the morning on a random Saturday.  I must admit- I watched for a time- to see him twirl her and to see her step into his hold and gaze back at him- it was magical.  At some point, I caught myself.  I felt like I was intruding on a private moment.  I slowly backed up and turned away.  I stayed outside and came back like I was just arriving- making lots of noise so they knew I was there.  I never told them that I "caught them in the act."  I didn't want them to change their ways in case I was looming.

Mom used to tell me that they were in the middle of their second honeymoon.  Until "the dance," I thought she was just telling me that to help me let go.  To assure me that they were really happy without us kids.  Oh boy, she wasn't kidding.  After that, I learned way too much about their adult exploits after we kids were gone.

All I am saying is-  Thank you Mom and Dad!  I will be dancing my ass off with my (totally hot) husband every chance I get, morning or night.  I will gaze at him as he twirls me into his arms.  I hope my daughters catch us when they come home for their occasional visits.  I hope it affects them as it did me.  I hope they find their partner.  If they do, I won't mind if they don't call or write.  They'll know where we are and what we are doing. . . 

Thanks Marty for the New Year's jolt.  I hope your memories are as fond as mine.

--This is my vision of the heaven they are in now. 

No comments:

Post a Comment