Jingle, Jangle

This morning, fellow gamer and Facebook friend, William posted the song “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies. I was one of the people he tagged with the question, “Do you remember this song?” I immediately answered that I did, and strangely, the song “Jingle Jangle” was what Jim and I considered “our song.”

Once you know the back-story, it may not seem strange at all. Flashback to Oahu, Hawaii, December 1969: I flew from the states and Jim from the jungles of Vietnam to exchange our vows and become husband and wife. We spent six days together, and in the wee hours of Christmas morning, Jim returned to the war and I returned home.

In my mind, Hawaii was forever linked with the music we listened to while we were there. We heard “Jingle Jangle” for the first time while we were in Hawaii, and it became our song. It was a happy, upbeat song and always awakened memories of sand, ocean, sunlight, and especially love. Our love was new, fresh, and exciting.

When Jim returned from Vietnam, He had another year to complete his commitment to Uncle Sam. Jim was stationed at Fort Riley and in 1970, we moved to Manhattan, Kansas. For the first sweltering summer, we lived in a one-room apartment. I guess you could stretch it to two rooms if you counted the tiny bathroom. We had one window and no air-conditioning, but at least we had a box fan.

In September, we were able to move into the main part of the house where we had plenty of room. We decided we wanted a stereo to play some vinyl, and went to a department store looking for one. As we walked in, we heard “Jingle Jangle” playing on a console stereo. We struck a deal with the sales person that we would buy the stereo if he would throw in the album that was playing.

Next stop in the story, winter, 2005. Jim lived in a nursing home, but I visited him every day that I possibly could. The following story is from Indelible, the unfinished memoir I’ve been working on for several years:

 

Jim and I were watching the playoff game between Denver and the Jets. The cable went off so I looked in Jim’s drawer and found an audio tape and popped it in his tape player. I pushed play and realized he had taped some of our old record albums.

 When “Sunday Morning Coming Down” played, Jim acted upset. Had that song stirred memories of when we lived in Manhattan, Kansas, right after he came back from Vietnam?

The Archies song “Sugar Sugar” began to play, he didn’t pay much attention to it. Mavie liked it. She had her doll and was swinging it around and dancing. She looked like she was singing the words, and who knows, maybe she knew the song too.

 Jim was running a temperature for the second night in a row. I walked to the nurses’ station to talk to Marie about his fever.

“If he gets worse, do you want me to send him to the hospital and then give you a call?” she asked.

“No. Call me first and I’ll take him,” I said.

Daniel came to the counter with a pair of panties. “Would you deliver this letter for me?” he asked, folding the panties and offering them to me.

“Daniel, I don’t work for the post office,” I told him. 

I got Marie’s attention, and she said, “Why don’t you give me the letter, Daniel? Hey, Hanes Her Way. I’ll see that she gets it.” That satisfied Daniel and he wandered down the hallway.

When I stopped at Jim’s room to get my coat and purse, “Jingle Jangle” began to play. That was “our” song, and the one that made my heart ache. I blinked back tears and kissed him on the forehead, and said, “I’ll be back tomorrow.” He closed his eyes and soon was napping peacefully.

Jim would have been on my mind on this day that honors veterans, but hearing the upbeat song “Sugar, Sugar” almost seemed like a gentle nudge from the other side. The love we had lives in my memories, in my heart, and makes my soul complete. In my memories today, Jim and I will walk hand-in-hand, toes in the sand, with our life together ahead of us. 

Copyright © Nov 2023 by L.S. Fisher

http://earlyonset.blogspot.com

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