Barry
and Lisa lived in a two bedroom officer housing quarters on base. Barry was a
brand new “Butter Bar” and was assigned as Chief of the Plans and Programs
Division in the Base Accounting and Finance Office. He quickly earned the
respect and confidence of his subordinates and the full bird colonel division
chief. Lieutenant Day routinely briefed the base vice commander, and
occasionally the base commander, on new upcoming programs and the projected
cost of completion. It seemed fitting he was quickly elected the president of
the junior officers advisory council. Barry accidently overheard the base
commander tell the wing commander that, ”Lt. Day is bright, looks like he just
walked off a recruiting poster, and he has the prettiest wife on Minot Air
Force Base!” He went home that night and shared the double praise with the
smiling Lisa.
Lisa
volunteered in the Special Services office two days a week and worked three
days a week as a paid assistant in the base Day Care. She was happy to be busy,
especially during the long cold winters. As the temperatures dropped, the snow
piled up.
She
participated in a Tuesday unofficial lunch for junior officer wives. The
conversation always included ultrasound results, due dates, progress of
newborns and when was the new mother’s mother returning to her home. Lisa
listened politely but was never able to contribute to the discussions. When
honeymoons were brought up Lisa took center stage. Very few could top her and
Barry’s. One proud mother-to-be, and new comer to Minot, said her due date was
computed from her honeymoon. An all knowing smile adorned the faces of these
junior officer’s wives.
It
was on a Thursday night at the mixed league bowling lanes when Barry “Lucky”
Day’s luck started to go south. Barry was in the restroom as Lisa was bending
over to retie her bowling shoes. From behind her came a deeply resonant, radio
quality voice that asked, “May I help you?” Lisa turned to see the smiling face
of Captain Steve McCory. She said, “Thanks, I got it.”
Instant
physical attraction is hard to define. Was it his voice? Was it her unintended
bending position? Was it his dark blue eyes? Was it her model-like appearance
even in her loose fitting bowling shirt? Maybe it was his all season tanning
bed body that caught her eye. Maybe it was Lisa’s confident voice that echoed
her “I know where I’m going and how to get there” overall demeanor. She quickly
spotted his border line compliance with Air Force haircut standards. Simple
answers to complex questions are seldom, if ever, correct.
He
extended his hand and firmly shook her soft, well-manicured hand and exchanged
brief introductions. Barry returned from the restroom and put his left arm
around her waist. Lisa introduced him to Captain McCory. Many lives were now
destined to change.
Barry
told Steve he worked in the Accounting and Finance Office and Steve said he was
a Launch Control Officer for the Minuteman III ICBM and worked 24 hour rotating
shifts. Days later, Steve would tell Lisa he saw her smile when he mentioned
rotating shifts. Captain McCory was married; had a four year old daughter who
was in the day care program and his wife worked off-base at Sears.
Steve
and Lisa next met at the day care when Steve picked up his daughter on one of
his days off. “Hello” and “Thanks” constituted the entire conversation. He came
the next day to again pick up his daughter. On this second day she passed a
sheet of paper with her phone number scribbled on it along with Steve’s
daughter’s coloring for the day.
Many,
if not most, of the times when we make life-altering decisions we have reasons
that at least seem rational to ourselves. However, Lisa’s hurried writing of
her phone number and giving it to Steve was not thought out. It was on the spur
of the moment. She started almost immediately to justify her decision to
herself. Am I as beautiful and desirable as I once was? The giving Steve her
number was a quick one person poll to discover the answer. After all, he
probably would never call and if he did she could always say, ” I made a
mistake, please forgive me.” Her rationalization seemed to make a lot of sense.
Besides that, I am married to the greatest and the luckiest guy on the planet.
A
week passed and he called her about 15 minutes before the base U.S. Flag was taken
down and the National Anthem played over the base PA system. This daily event
marked the completion of another day of defending this great nation. Everything
comes to a standstill on all military installations during this important
ritual. Each spoke rapidly and a secret rendezvous was agreed upon. Both
of their spouses would be returning home soon. Lisa was surprised she felt no
pangs of conscience. In fact, she could feel her heart racing. Yes, she thought
to herself that she was at last going to be Lisa, not Lieutenant Day’s pretty
wife. She had no trouble falling asleep that night. Her last conscious thought
was the upcoming secret meeting with Steve. What would he be like when they
were alone?
When
Barry came home from his office on the day Lisa and Steve had their first
covert luncheon meeting, Barry immediately detected the unusual and delightful
aroma of Lisa’s Dream Catcher fragrance. She received this perfume from an aunt
in Santa Fe, NM. The aunt purchased it from a Native American sidewalk vendor
who claimed magical and mystical results for the woman who wore this perfume.
Lisa got a small bottle when she graduated from high school and another when
she graduated from college.
Barry
inquired why she had chosen this day to wear his favorite perfume that had
previously only been worn on special occasions. Lisa was now on the slippery
downhill slope of changing half-truths into dangerous lies. She stated she
chose this day because a group of Sioux Nation dancers performed at the day
care. In fact, the dancers did perform at the day care; however, the real
reason was she wanted to wow Steve on their inaugural long lunch hour hidden
meeting. The perfume produced the desired effects.
Fast
forward four months later: Steve, in spite of his wife’s pleading for
counseling with the base chaplain, divorced her. Ditto for Lisa and Barry. Six months
later, Lisa and Steve were married. Lisa and Steve found an off base apartment.
Steve’s ex-wife took her daughter and went home to Kansas. Barry moved into the
Bachelor Officer's quarters. On two occasions, Barry was shopping at the Base
Exchange when Lisa and Steve came in. On each occasion he put his items down on
the nearest shelf and hastily walked out. How could Lisa look so happy and he
felt so bad? Mercifully, Steve and his new bride were reassigned three months
later.
Some
retrospective might be helpful at this time. It is the very nature of
humans to attempt to find the cause and effect for events, especially painful
ones. Barry attempted many times to determine why Lisa was leaving him in favor
of a man she had known for less than a year. Had he done or said something
wrong? Was she unhappy in her work? Had she forgotten all of the good times
they enjoyed in high school and college? Was Steve a better performer in the
bedroom? Was the weather responsible for the divorce? Was she on drugs? Are you
depressed? Have you grown tired of the Air Force? Did he promise you something
I can’t provide? On and on the questions went. Each time she would generalize
and say, “I can’t explain it. I just know it is best for everyone.”
Barry
quickly advanced from the early stages of Shock, to Denial, to Anger in the
Grieving process. He felt unbelievable anger toward Lisa and Steve. He thought
briefly of confronting Steve and duking it out---winner take all. He even
thought of taking his own life. Time, reason, the base chaplain, a very
challenging job, and a supporting mother and father helped him survive the
midnight of his soul. To quote Robert Service “It’s the Hell served for
breakfast that’s hard.” He later would recall he felt like the gut shot cowboys
in old western movies. He didn’t want to live and he didn’t know how to die.
Had
Barry’s long streak of luck been broken? Was he just another ordinary guy after
all? Barry got a three week leave and went back to Felderburg to get himself
together. He spent much of the time alone. On Friday night just before he went
back to Minot, he attended the opening night at the annual German Wurst
Fest. Things would never be the same after that night.
It
was a long accepted custom for tickets to be sold to determine who would have
the first dance with the Wurst Fest queen---this year was Helda Wenderson. She
was dressed in traditional German attire. Her blond neatly braided
pigtails and bright blue and white checkered dress with wide jumper straps
highlighted her quiet outer and inner beauty. Knee high white stockings
amplified her shapely figure. Her genuine smile made a fellow want to wrap her
up and take her home to mother. Her face reflected an innocent wholesomeness.
Her smile was so captivating he felt as if he was beholding the original
allurement of Eve in the unspoiled Garden of Eden. Barry would later learn she
and her family moved from Milwaukee to Felderburg about the same time he and
Lisa moved to Minot. Furthermore, her father was the pastor of the largest
Lutheran church in Felderburg.
Sometimes
a person must cast his bread upon the waters and see what happens. Barry bought
one ticket and silently waited for the drawing. Barry’s ticket was drawn to
start the official opening of the three day celebration. Smiles and constant
eye contact served as the main medium of conversation.
Barry
asked and was granted permission to escort Queen Helda home. For the next two
days the two of them were nearly inseparable. Barry felt as if each good night
kiss was the stairway to a timeless eternity and infinite space. He attempted
twice to tell her the full details of his previous marriage. Each time she
would softly say, “I know.” Barry’s luck seemed to be back.
Strangely,
old westerns again popped into his recollection. This time he was the ragged,
bearded prospector that was more dead than alive and barely able to crawl to a
life-saving fresh spring of water. Barry Day felt alive again. He was alive! He
was alive! Hey world, I am alive!
He
returned to Minot a totally different person than when he left. He phoned Helda
every day; sometimes two or three times a day on weekends. A year later they
were married in a small military ceremony at the base chapel. Thrown rice never
felt so good. The crossed sword exit from the chapel seemed to Barry to be the
portal to genuine and long lasting love. While Barry never said it out loud,
his feelings for Helda were deeper, more even than those felt for Lisa. He
thought to himself, Lisa was a speed boat and Helda is a three-masted,
majestic, silent, old world, sailing ship. The speed boat had raced over the
horizon never to return. The tall sailing ship was safely and forever in his home
port. To love and be loved is the greatest thing a person can experience. Yes
sir, Barry Day was lucky once more.
Within
a month he received orders to Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Helda spoke perfect
German and helped launch a four year dream tour of all the major countries of
Europe. Captain Day was the number two man in the base Accounting and
Finance Office. Barry’s father developed terminal cancer and he separated after
8 years of active duty to help his mother take care of him.
Back
in Felderburg, Barry became the director of the bank’s loan department and was
widely recognized as the future bank president in waiting. He and Helda had
twin boys, Joshua and Caleb, and lived in a house about four blocks from
Helda’s parents. The Barry Day family became faithful members of her father’s
Lutheran church.
What
happened next was straight out of a Dickens’s novel. A subordinate brought a
loan application to Barry to sign the Disapproval statement. The subordinate
briefed Barry on the applicant’s lackluster financial status. She is a single
mother of four young kids; just moved into town; works as a truck stop waitress; has a credit score
of 420; been married three times; and wants to purchase a 10 year-old double
wide trailer for $4,800.
Barry
scanned the application and surprised his subordinate by approving the loan. He
said, “Tell Lisa this is her Lucky Day!”
GLENN <><
JUST WEST OF YESTERDAY
