Lisa and Barry “Lucky” Day
Barry Day
was not born on third base: But he was born somewhere between second and third.
His father was the vice-president of the Felderburg National Bank and his
mother was the daughter of the bank president.
Young Barry
lived an easy and comfortable life. New sports car at age 16; captain of his
state champion football team; and steady boyfriend of Lisa Wilson, the most
beautiful cheerleader in school and a great candidate for the most beautiful
girl in town. She was an 11 on the ubiquitous 10 scale.
In spite of Barry’s much above average financial
status, he never forgot he was very fortunate to enjoy the blessings of his
birth. Weather permitting; he would jog
to and from school. He was the first to arrive for football practice and the
last to leave. Teammates and coaches held his motivational leadership in high
esteem. His six foot two inch frame reflected proper diet, lots of outdoor time,
and abstinence from tobacco and alcohol. His light brown hair was cut in a
close flat top style. Some of the girls privately said he looked like a modern
day Tab Hunter. Everything about Barry seemed to reflect self-confidence, yet
real humility.
He knew he
was very lucky in this Midwestern town of 18, 673 people. Many of the residents
were from German ancestry. In fact, Barry was called “Lucky” Day in high school
and he openly enjoyed the nickname. Lisa knew she was lucky to date the BMOC. Lisa
could have competed in beauty contests with her All-American face and “head
turning” figure; however, she had her sights set on a much more important prize.
Interestingly, Lisa secretly wanted their relationship to go further and faster
that Barry seemed prepared to go.
After
graduation, Barry and Lisa attended a small local liberal arts college. Lisa
was planning on her MRS degree with Barry. Barry was studying banking and
finance. He made a perfect 4.0 for four years.
Between
Barry’s sophomore and junior year he joined the Air Force ROTC. His motivation
was to travel and prove his worth on his own. He wanted to someday travel to
Germany and visit Europe.
During his
AFROTC basic training at Reece AFB in west Texas he was spotted as a natural
leader and easily won the Commandant’s trophy for the most outstanding cadet at
this demanding officer basic training. Barry once more lived up to his “Lucky”
nickname.
Following college graduation, Barry was commissioned a second
lieutenant and the following week he and Lisa were married in the largest
wedding in the modern history of Felderburg. The 800 plus attendees brought so
many gifts two pickup trucks were required to transport them to his mother and
father’s six bedroom home three miles east of Felderburg.
The newlyweds honeymooned in Hawaii for ten blissful and
heavenly days. In addition to lying on the beach, body surfing, skin diving,
flying to other islands, shopping (Lisa really enjoyed the shopping) and
sleeping until 11am each morning, the happy pair enjoyed breakfast in the
Honeymoon Suite heart-shaped bed. The colorful meals always include large
spears of pineapple; served on trays containing fresh orchids. Lisa repeatedly
thought how lucky she was and she would often refer to herself as Mrs. “Lucky”
Day.
Back on the reality of the mainland they had 20 days to
prepare for their first duty assignment at the flat, super cold in the winter,
Minot Air Force Base in Minot, North Dakota. Only Shemya Air Force Base in
Alaska enjoyed a colder, more desolate reputation among service members.
As they entered Minot, they saw a large sign that probably
had been erected by the Chamber of Commerce that asked, “Why Not Minot?” Some
disgruntled citizen had spray painted below the business attracting question,
“Freezin’ Is The Reason!” The Days would learn the temperatures would dip to 35
below zero during the winter.
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 at 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 ultra sound 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 deep
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 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 Officers quarters. On two occasions,
Barry was shopping in 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 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 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; 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 <><
