I'd Say First of All

 

 

First Job: Short order cook.

First Favorite Politician: JFK
 

First Record/CD: Rick is 21 (Rick Nelson)

First Sport Played: baseball

First Concert: Chubby Checker

First Foreign Country Visited: England

First Favorite TV Show: The Honeymooners

First Favorite Actor: Humphrey Bogart

First Favorite Actress: Julia Roberts

First Girlfriend/Boyfriend: Debbie

First Encounter with a Famous Person: Peter Falk

First House/Condo Owned: Condo in 1976

First Film Seen: Some nameless sci-fi film...

First Favorite Radio Station:WDRC the big D

First Book I Remember Reading:Catcher in the Rye

 

Ain't No Sunshine

 

Saturday 9: As Time Goes By (1958)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) This song begins with, "You must remember this." Do you often write things down to help you remember? Yes. Wait. No. What was the question? It was not until late in life I was diagnosed with ADHD. It explained a lot.

 

2) The lyrics tell us that moonlight and love songs are never out of date. Tell us about something else that seems timeless. Romance. I spent Saturday night with an old girlfriend (we dated in 1991). We had the best time. It is bittersweet. I probably will never see her again.

3) Originally written in 1931, "As Time Goes By" is best known as the love theme from the 1942 film, Casablanca. According to the American Film Institute, there's only one song from a movie soundtrack that's more expressly identified with the film: "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz. What song reminds you of your favorite movie? "Ain't No Sunshine" from Notting Hill.

 

4) This version is from The George Sanders Touch, an LP recorded by an Oscar-winning character actor. There is scant evidence that it sold well. Tell us about something you thought was a good idea at the time, but looking back, would have done differently. Certainly my last marriage. We got married for the wrong reasons. We were never in love. Need I go on?

 

5) This album was really something of a consolation prize for George. He worked with a vocal coach, hoping to win the romantic lead in the film version of South Pacific, but alas, the role went to a younger man. He had fun making this record instead. Have you recently taken lemons and made lemonade? I think that's what I'm doing with my life. Starting something new to meet new people.

6) He usually played suave but unsympathetic characters. That's why he gave his autobiography the self-aware title, Memoirs of a Professional Cad. What would you call your life story? Ask me in another decade or so. More chapters to be written.

 

7) The night he won his Oscar, George Sanders accepted the statuette, bowed deeply and then, safely behind the curtain and away from cameras, surprised onlookers by crying. Have you ever cried tears of joy? No. I've experienced tears of pride with my children, but of joy, as in from an event, no.

 

8) George Sanders wed perennial talk show guest and occasional actress Zsa Zsa Gabor in 1949. Sixteen years after their divorce, he married Zsa Zsa's less famous but also glamorous sister, Magda. After a month, George and Magda thought better of it and had the union annulled. Sam thinks this is one of the oddest romantic tales she's ever stumbled upon while researching Saturday 9. Have you ever known anyone who divorced one sibling and then married another? (Hallmark movies don't count.) No. But many have wanted to...

9) Random question: You're in a line of 25 people at the post office. How many of those other 24 are more patient at waiting than you are? None of them. I'd come back later if I couldn't wait.

 

It Started Last November

Hi and welcome to an old blog with a new tale. I just turned 70 in November. I have live in New England my entire life.Just prior to the pandemic (great timing) I ended what was a really lousy marriage. It was not either of our first marriages, and we got married for the wrong reasons. She was enamored with having a "do-over" for her first wedding (not a marriage but the wedding) and I settled for a not-so-good situation. I had never done that before. I love living alone.

The timing was perfect. Separate, file for divorce and then a pandemic shuts you down for over a year. Now, we all went through it. No one's situation was any worse. I just want to give it context. In the fall of last year, my son Ben came to me to give me a heads up that he was moving his family to Phoenix. I was stunned. I was instantly depressed. But then came the pitch: "Dad, we want you to come with us. Sell your home. We'll find you a new one. We'll pay for the move and if you don't like it we will pay to move you back." I had never been to Phoenix. It didn't matter. I have never lived in  the same city with one of my kids and their families. Within two to three hours, but not day to day. So here was an opportunity to do it. And more.

Ben explained that we'd go out in January and among other things, we'd look at houses. We weren't ready to buy, but it got me familiar with the city and most importantly I discovered what 55+ communities are like in Arizona. On the flight, my son explained that step one was selling his house. He planned to put it on the market as soon as we got back. In fact, while we were preparing to fly out of Logan in Boston, my daughter-in-law was staging the home. When that house sold, he'd buy his home in Ahwatukee. Then we'd sell my home, and I'd find one nearby. We'd be all moved in by June. As he talked, I could not help but feel there was an awful lot of wishful thinking involved.

So today is April 26th. The real estate market has remained hot. My son's home sold the first day for way over asking price. His wife flew out to Phoenix and Ben viewed homes through Facetime. Within a week, they found one. So last month, we put my house on the market. It took a week to sell my house. I got well over asking price as well. A week later, we found my house in Chandler. What seemed as very wishful thinking had been pulled off without a hitch. In fact it went so well that I will be out there as of May 26th. 

I feel as I did when I went off to college. I knew I was going to make new friends and new women, but I just didn't know who they would be. For a while at college I was very lonely. But this will be different because I will know somebody. And I plan to be active in my granddaughters' lives. So I plan to be very busy. 

Here I have a four bedroom home. Last week I either trashed or gave away four rooms of furniture. My bedroom furniture, my rec room recliners, my radio studio table & equipment and dinette set are all that's left! It's all that I'll need. I bought a two bedroom home. My radio studio will be in one of the bedrooms. I will love the one level. Presently, I live in my rec room. The stairs suck. I am now visiting or arranging to visit friends and family before I go. Yesterday my brother and sister arranged to meet me for dinner on May 18th. My close friends will be here on May 7th. Perhaps I'll be back, but I don't know. My friends are all married, which certainly makes it easier to leave. It just all fell into place.