That Valentine

On a day without a valentine, you think back to when you did have one. Way back, way in love. Folks just shook their heads. Thirty years ago it was Mary who had my heart. Both in the Army, she caught my eye in her blue jeans and plaid shirt covered by long, dishwater-blond hair. Simple pretty. And she was with my fellow Minnesotan Lurch, so I joined their table at the club. Talk brought out her favorite song was Blues Eyes Cryin' in the Rain. Wow! Nail my balls to a stump and push me over backwards! Hook, line, sinker, I was.

God that felt good. Every minute wonderful. And so Valentine's Day, a songwriter must have a Valentine's Day song for the one he loves. From my barracks to hers I called, and with the phone propped in the direction of a clumsy soldier, sang to that phone out in the barracks hallway:

May sound funny,
On Valentine's Day,
To call and sing,
To you this way.
Gettin' used to you,
Like a pair of old shoes,
Be my Valentine,
Mary Kruse!

After the Army, Mary returned to Ohio and I Minnesota. But we did hook up for just a bit. It wasn't the right time, I thought. Poor choices of priorities prevailed. I did call her home in Ohio a few years later, in the bag and missin' her. Her sister Suzie said she'd married and moved to New York State. Suzie asked if I wanted her number. Nah. I just said to wish her all the best.

Blew that. Still miss the way them old shoes fit so well.