Before I slipped under the sheets last night, I saw in the phone's news feed that Kenny Rogers had died earlier in the day.
5 decades immediately passed before my eyes; Kenny had been a part of my life even before Bob.
The following Youtube music video is my favorite Kenny Rogers song - he sang it with his band, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Media sources keep saying Kenny was a country singer … and he was LATER IN HIS CAREER – but he was a rock and roll singer before he crossed over to country.
And much has been made of him singing with Dolly Parton too; BUT he also sang with Dottie West, and when they sang together it was pure magic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqLWIiuwu8U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K59sCjyv385 decades immediately passed before my eyes; Kenny had been a part of my life even before Bob.
The following Youtube music video is my favorite Kenny Rogers song - he sang it with his band, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition. Media sources keep saying Kenny was a country singer … and he was LATER IN HIS CAREER – but he was a rock and roll singer before he crossed over to country.
And much has been made of him singing with Dolly Parton too; BUT he also sang with Dottie West, and when they sang together it was pure magic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqLWIiuwu8U
As a youth, and later a teen, I walked all over the Skamokawa valleys ... and later to Graysriver, Altoona, Pillar Rock, & Eden Valley: even into Naselle when Apello's Store relocated (I'd always buy a coke for my return trip back home in Skamokawa). I saved every cent I made babysitting, chopping/bundling kindling, picking blackberries-strawberries-cucumbers; I used that money to buy undercover cigarettes (though I think my mother figured out I was smoking), cokes for my weekend walkabouts, and even a little brown leather cased transistor radio & a pocket camera I used well into the 1980's when it was later replaced by a very spendy top-notch camera outfit, thank you, Babe!
And always - ALWAYS - Kenny was there. In the background; with his gravelly voice.
At one time, Bob even resembled Kenny with his long, wavy, should-length hair; and aviator shades. Bob would eventually grow a mustache & a beard too.
This song too: LOTS of memories with Bob when love was buring – lying together heart to heart; listening to lover’s whispers & the radio belt this song out while summer breezes made the open window curtains dance on the river breeze. And - now I am crying ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO1CqLpadAM
There was a time in our marriage when Bob worked away from home all week, coming home on weekends – and one December he got so sick with walking pneumonia that he didn’t get home for 2 weeks … and when he staggered through the door at home, I was scared: he looked like walking death. The kids were scared too – they cried to let him open their homemade Christmas gifts to him the next day; Stacey and Sara sat at his feet crying while his long fingers fumbled at the wrapping, and he smiled weakly, praising the kids when he saw their gifts – Bob loved kids, and he was a good dad. I took him to Dr. Avalon’s Office as soon as it opened Monday morning, and refused to let him go back to work until his lungs were clear. Bob had a good Boss that loved us like his own kids – Jimmy Durrah knew Bob’s family from waaaay back ‘when’; and didn’t want to lose Bob as his main employee: Bob was home for two weeks.
During those times of Bob’s absence from home, Cathlamet being the gossiping and cheating small town that it is, had a lot of rumors flying about Bob and me: and I think, based on what our children say, they believed those rumors. But BOB AND I KNEW what the truth was. We were not ‘separated, on the verge of divorce’: Bob was logging away from home. While working up the Toutle, he was camped in the back yard of our friends, Bill and Punkie Shelton; he was borrowing his parent’s pickup-bed-camper and living in that all week, coming home Friday nights after work – and leaving again Sunday morning. Another year, Bob worked in Glenoma, WA, and we bought a small Taurus travel trailer with that year’s Income Tax Return – he parked that in an RV spot until that job played out; again, coming home Fridays and leaving again Sundays. This went on for years – I eventually got my driver’s license so the kids and I could go see him once in a while. There was no separation … there was w.o.r.k. happening.
There was that one winter Bob was gone so long because travel had been hampered by the snowy weather in Glenoma: he’d let his har grow to keep his neck warm, and he’d grown a full beard too, to keep his face warm; and when he was finally able to came home that Friday evening, I wasn’t home: Stacey and I were visiting Sharon and her kids, and when Bob showed up looking for me, Sharon answered her door and turned saying, “Val … there’s a strange man here asking for you.” I was mystified, but I went to see who it was – AND DID NOT RECOGNIZE BOB. I asked, “Yes? I’m Val. Why are you asking for me?” Bob laughed, and said, “It’s me, Val. I’ll be home for a while before going back.” We both had a good laugh, and agreed he needed a shave and a cut ;-)
This song too: LOTS of memories with Bob when love was buring – lying together heart to heart; listening to lover’s whispers & the radio belt this song out while summer breezes made the open window curtains dance on the river breeze. And - now I am crying ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO1CqLpadAM
There was a time in our marriage when Bob worked away from home all week, coming home on weekends – and one December he got so sick with walking pneumonia that he didn’t get home for 2 weeks … and when he staggered through the door at home, I was scared: he looked like walking death. The kids were scared too – they cried to let him open their homemade Christmas gifts to him the next day; Stacey and Sara sat at his feet crying while his long fingers fumbled at the wrapping, and he smiled weakly, praising the kids when he saw their gifts – Bob loved kids, and he was a good dad. I took him to Dr. Avalon’s Office as soon as it opened Monday morning, and refused to let him go back to work until his lungs were clear. Bob had a good Boss that loved us like his own kids – Jimmy Durrah knew Bob’s family from waaaay back ‘when’; and didn’t want to lose Bob as his main employee: Bob was home for two weeks.
During those times of Bob’s absence from home, Cathlamet being the gossiping and cheating small town that it is, had a lot of rumors flying about Bob and me: and I think, based on what our children say, they believed those rumors. But BOB AND I KNEW what the truth was. We were not ‘separated, on the verge of divorce’: Bob was logging away from home. While working up the Toutle, he was camped in the back yard of our friends, Bill and Punkie Shelton; he was borrowing his parent’s pickup-bed-camper and living in that all week, coming home Friday nights after work – and leaving again Sunday morning. Another year, Bob worked in Glenoma, WA, and we bought a small Taurus travel trailer with that year’s Income Tax Return – he parked that in an RV spot until that job played out; again, coming home Fridays and leaving again Sundays. This went on for years – I eventually got my driver’s license so the kids and I could go see him once in a while. There was no separation … there was w.o.r.k. happening.
There was that one winter Bob was gone so long because travel had been hampered by the snowy weather in Glenoma: he’d let his har grow to keep his neck warm, and he’d grown a full beard too, to keep his face warm; and when he was finally able to came home that Friday evening, I wasn’t home: Stacey and I were visiting Sharon and her kids, and when Bob showed up looking for me, Sharon answered her door and turned saying, “Val … there’s a strange man here asking for you.” I was mystified, but I went to see who it was – AND DID NOT RECOGNIZE BOB. I asked, “Yes? I’m Val. Why are you asking for me?” Bob laughed, and said, “It’s me, Val. I’ll be home for a while before going back.” We both had a good laugh, and agreed he needed a shave and a cut ;-)
But there was love. Always love. We trusted each other.
People who didn’t know us were always surprised to find out how long we’d been married. Even after 4 decades we looked into each other’s eyes when we spoke – we spoke as 1. We leaned into each other when we stood, walked, sat together; we held hands – Bob would drape his arm across my shoulders, and I’d lay my hand on his thigh. Even the ER teams, and his surgical team would smile and say. “You 2 are too cute together."
And we'd look into each other's eyes, smile - and say, "We love each other."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtPh-c-qh00
I love you, Babe.
Always ~ OX
Memories.
Of Bob.
Of Kenny.
Both men both left their impressions on my life; both are missed. A LOT.
Sleep took a loooooong time to kick in last night ... and this morning is a little soggy.
R.I.P. Kenny - thanks for the memories.
I love you, Babe.
Always ~ OX
Memories.
Of Bob.
Of Kenny.
Both men both left their impressions on my life; both are missed. A LOT.
Sleep took a loooooong time to kick in last night ... and this morning is a little soggy.
R.I.P. Kenny - thanks for the memories.
**********
I gotta stop tripping down Memory Lane now, or I’m gonna float away.
I gotta stop tripping down Memory Lane now, or I’m gonna float away.
