¶ How about an amusing story that includes some of my favorite titles?
2. Amazed and Confused
3. Making Memories Of Us
4. I Hope You Dance
5. If I Fell
6. And I Love You So
Favorite Answer
John turned his attention from the television set. “Sweet Caroline!” he exclaimed. “I’ve been thinking about you all day!” He was amazed and confused that she recognized him.
They paid no attention as the television droned on in the background. Instead, they concentrated on this moment of opportunity.
They talked about the kids; the house; illness and sad times; weddings, births, and happy times. Tears rolled down John’s cheeks. “We spent all those years making memories of us. I’m so grateful for this life we’ve had!”
Caroline grasped the handles of her walker and slowly pulled herself into a standing position. She carefully pivoted around, until she could hold one of John’s hands in her own. She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed it.
“I love you so, and I cherish nights like these,” she told him. “If I fell in love again, it could only be with you.”
Caroline turned and slowly pushed her walker towards the door to the hallway that led to her nursing home room. She paused for a minute and said, “Goodnight, sweetheart. They’ll be wanting to sedate me soon. I’ll see you in the morning.”
As soon as she’d left the room, John buried his face in his hands and cried. The moments that Caroline knew who he was had been few and far between recently. This might have been their last night together.
Hmm not great but I tried!
Monika felt the Sensei move more closely behind her. “So,” she thought, trembling, “I AM doing something wrong. I KNEW it, from the way he was watching me. He’s going to come over and yell at me, I can just tell.”
A hand reached out, fluttered on her neck briefly. The blazing shock that thundered through her every nerve end rocked her so that her knees collapsed. Suddenly, she felt strong arms closing around her and gazed up into the most amazing grey eyes. The deep, dark pupils opened like a bottomless well, striving to swallow her soul. She gasped! “Oh, I didn’t realize that you would catch me 5. If I Fell.” Blushing, she stammered to a halt.
Chuck’s hand reached out to brush a strand of hair from off her face. He sighed, deeply, unable to speak, as thoughts whirled within. “Damn, here I am, thinking of 3. Making Memories Of Us. But I still love my 1. Sweet Caroline, 6. And I Love You, So what AM I supposed to do?”
Monika waited, holding her breath. Something momentous seemed about to happen. The Sensei spoke: “Stand up, now – and let’s try that last form again, shall we?” Ah, perhaps she WAS simply imagining it, then.
I like this question, but I’d just give a silly answer, so I’ll stop with my lame attempt.
“Oh gee, have I AMAZED AND CONFUSED you all already? Let me make it clear before I go on. I’m not in the real world but we all have just as much fun, if not more, than you humans do.”
It was the night I wanted to let SWEET CAROLINE know how I felt about her and I’m going to try MAKING MEMORIES OF US all night.
I looked pretty spiffy in my new tuxedo if I do say so myself. Oh yes, I’m Peter Penguin hopelessly in love with SWEET CAROLINE Puppet.
The Ball had started by the time I arrived. My eyes gazed around to find my lovely belle of the Ball. Handsome tin soldiers and a few teddy bears in their fanciest duds surrounded her in the middle of the room.
“Did I have a chance? Well I’ll never know if I don’t try.” I told myself. So I waddled into the center of the floor proud as any of the peacocks there showing off in front of my SWEET CAROLINE. I excused myself and went right up to her. For some reason, which I didn’t care of course, the others started to back away.
I smiled and bowed in front of her. We just looked at one another waiting for the first one to speak.
“I HOPE YOU DANCE,” SWEET CAROLINE said softly.
“ So do I. I mean, I’d like to but I’m not very good.” I answered back blushing at the same time.
“Oh Peter Penguin, do you think I’m going to be that graceful with my jerky joints?”
“Well I’m a little stiff but lets go. This is one of my favorite songs.” I said as I took her by the hands and started dancing.
“IF I FELL” whispered SWEET CAROLINE, “would you quickly pick me up?”
I just nodded and smiled at her as we kept dancing our way out to the enchanted garden where there was a lovely lit fountain bubbling up and down into the pond splashing lightly the sides we sat down on.
I went speechless as I looked at her. “Oh this is just great. I’m out MAKING MEMORIES OF US and I don’t know what to say or do. Some memories!” I said out loud but not realizing I had.
She looked at me AMAZED AND CONFUSED when all of a sudden I slipped off the edge and started bobbing and swimming around and around the pond. I had totally ruined
everything.
When I came up again SWEET CAROLINE Puppet was dancing awkwardly around the edge and yet she still looked like a ballerina to me.
When we came to the same spot, she reached down, touched my flipper and said, “Peter Penguin, if you won’t say anything I will. You swim lovely, dance like a stumbling block, you’re clumsy, your tuxedo is ruined, you’re soaking wet but beautiful, AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.”
My SWEET CAROLINE then jumped into the pond with me totally ruining her own dress.
MAKING MEMORIES OF US were actually happening, “AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH too,” I said as I took my belle of the ball and my life into my flippers.
We all flew in on Thursday morning and took cabs to the Royal Sonesta where we took up several floors of the hotel. No one rented a car because we knew that not one of us would be in any condition to drive over the next 4 days.
As soon as we unpacked our bags, we met in the lobby to try to get a game plan going. The only problem was that there were too many of us for everyone to want to do the same thing at the same time. So some went in one direction and others went in another. It wasn’t long before we were all over the French Quarter and you couldn’t walk in to an establishment without running in to one of us. We were in every bar on Bourbon street and getting more intoxicated by the minute.
Several of our balconies over looked Bourbon street and we could sit on them and watch our friends coming and going.
As my husband and I were coming in to the hotel, one of our friends from a balcony above yelled down and asked us to find out about the bar across the street. My husband was way too drunk to be left in charge of negotiating a deal involving cover charges and drinks at a bar, but left in charge he was and all of his friends were pleased with the deal he struck with the bouncer.
So about 15 couples met on the sidewalk and in to the Gunga Den we all went. There was live entertainment on the stage and the bar lined the stage. On the stage, there were the most voluptuous women I have ever seen and all of the men in the group took the seats around the bar. The entertainer on the stage was singing and one of our friends asked what her name was. The waitress told him it was Caroline, (1) Sweet Caroline.
As another performer took the stage, the women in the group started moving back from the stage, leaving all the men still sitting around the bar. The alcohol was still flowing and they (the men) were having a good time. They were flirting with the performers like they were single college boys who had no shame. It was like we wives didn’t exist any more. But we women weren’t getting angry. On the contrary, it was all good fun and we were laughing uncontrollably at their shananigans.
I pulled a camera from my purse and took the lens cap off. As I was about to focus on one of the husbands, who was flirting with yet another performer, the wife next to me asked me what I was doing. I told her I was (3) making memories of us.
Slowly, the reality of the whole situation started to dawn on the men, one by one. As each one realized what was going on and how crazy they were being, they too, started to move back from the stage to where we wives were sitting and enjoying the show. They were embarrassed by their behavior and were starting to settle down to some degree as they watched their friends by the stage make fools of themselves.
It wasn’t long before our friend, Woody ( yes it is his real nickname) was the only man left at the bar. The rest of us had moved to tables further from the stage. He was still flirting like a school boy at his first school dance. He looked up at the performer and winked and she winked back. He said to her, (4) “I hope you dance.” She smiled and turned her chair around backwards, straddled it and sang the next song straight to him and only him. He had another drink and as she finished her song, he looked up at her and started singing to her, (6) And I love you so, guess I always will……………
At that point, Woody turned around, looked at us and gave the thumbs up. He thought it was going to be his lucky night. He was the only single man in the group and he was convinced that he would not be sleeping alone at the Royal Sonesta that night. I looked at him and said, “Go for it Woody.” He turned back to the stage and the performer said in a very deep manly voice, “Yeah Woody ……….. go for it.”
Woody turned and looked at the rest of us (2) amazed and confused as slowly the realization came over him. These were female impersonators not women.
The rest of us, because we had figured this fact out long before, started laughing uncontrollably at him. The look on his face said it all. He got up and headed for the door in a hurry tripping over an empty chair. The rest of us left too.
We walked back across the street and got poor Woody to his room and made wure he was going to bed for he was far to drunk to trust him to make it on his own. The next morning as we all sat together and ate breakfast, we started telling Woody about the night before and laughing at his behavior. We told him that he was so shocked that he tripped over a chair, trying to make his get away. He said,( 5)” if I fell, who helped me up.” We all laughed and told him it was his new friend.
As we all boarded the plane to head home on Sunday afternoon, Woody asked us all not to mention that night to anyone ever again and we all laughed and agreed.
He said” what happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans.”
And now you know …… the rest of the story.
