I Remember You in General

In 1989, right after I was commissioned in the Navy and had started flight school I switched from vinyl and cassettes to CDs.

I was separated from X1, and living in the BOQ in NAS Pensacola.

After a particularly hard Friday night partying, Saturday morning I woke to rain coming so hard it was vibrating the building. I went to the door and opened it and was amazed at the torrent coming out of the sky.

I shared a suite with a Coast Guard guy also going through flight school. Our rooms were on either side of a “living room / kitchen” common area. I made coffee.

Waiting for the coffee to percolate I walked back into my room and hit play on my CD player.

This song came on, and sorta took my breath away.

In six months I was back with X1 and we were living on the beach at Perdido Key.

It took another 10 years, and another kid to finally call it quits. But this song will always remind me of that feeling, smelling coffee brewing and watching rain beat the shit out of the ground and regretting. And truthfully, missing her.

Up to that point, my family had never had a divorce. That all changed with me. All three of my siblings are divorced, only me and Robyn remarried, and I got divorced again. I felt like I was betraying a promise I made to my ancestors and descendants.

Sebastian Bach is not nearly that pretty anymore. And I am nowhere near as pretty as I was in ’89.

Pensacola was the proverbial ‘Target Rich Environment.” For young, fit prospective aviators the world was our oyster. All you had to do was drive out the gate and there were women everywhere. Seville Quarter was almost comical. The ratio guys to girls was 3:1. I made a fool out of myself more than once before I got back together with X1. But it did teach me to recognize predatory in females, which is why twenty five years later I waved off on Cassie so quickly.

It’s only Thursday. Next Monday I’ll call HR to see if I can’t unclog the logjam. I texted Steve asking what version of Oneplan and MS Office “we” are using. Figuring on my trip to south Portland to Men’s Wearhouse I’ll make a stop at Books A Million and grab some refence books.

What can I say. Old school.

Haven’t heard back.

And the rain and thunder are rattling the windows.

“Woke up to the sound of pouring rain
The wind would whisper and I’d think of you
And all the tears you cried – they called my name
And when you needed me I came through…”

Last updated September 22, 2022