:: Surreal Sunday ::

Tami’s prompt from Get it Scrapped: Surreal is anything bizarre or dreamlike... so let's share a bizarre or dreamlike story. It doesn't have to be life changing or move people to tears or hysterics. Just share a story of something that was bizarre or dreamlike to you. Don't think too hard, it's not a contest and there are no grades. It's just a post here or on a blog, that's all. It doesn't have to be something that you experience you can even just share a bizarre story you heard or some bizarre news you saw on TV. Maybe you will lean towards the dreamlike story and share something that was so fantastic it felt like a dream?

My story isn't bizarre at all and it may or may not be dreamlike, but it is a wonderful wish come true story for my husband & myself. It is probably way too long for anyone to want to read it, but it is something that I've been meaning to put in writing for many years.

First a little background!

When my husband and I were newly married and my husband was in the Army and stationed in Darmstadt, Germany in 1967, we lived across the hall in our government quarters from the most wonderful couple. Barb & Dave became our dearest friends . . . we played bridge and would leave the doors to our apartments open so we could hear our babies if they should cry . . . we traveled together on day trips around Germany . . . we had dinner together many nights . . . Barb & I sewed together, cooked together, shopped together, and learned from each other. As newly weds with no family within thousands of miles, we were instant family. Barb was like the sister that I never had. I guess that you would probably need to have been in the military to imagine how you could become such close friends in such a short time. But, remember that it was war time . . . the guys were all going to Viet Nam . . . and there was tension in Europe at the time we lived there too. The husbands were often gone for weeks at a time and worked long hours when they were at home. The wives leaned on each other and learned to be very independent.

Well, as I said, the war in Southeast Asia was raging and Dave was called to go in the late summer of 1968. We wrote letters back and forth for the next year while we were still in Darmstadt and Barb was living with her parents back home. Then, my husband got his orders for Viet Nam for July of 1968. We still wrote letters back and forth . . . no money for telephone calls for either of us.

After my husband safely returned from his tour of duty we had orders for Ft. Bragg, N.C. . . . the same duty station where Barb & Dave were serving! We picked up right where we left off two years earlier. Then they got orders again and moved away . . . they moved twice . . . we moved twice . . . and on and on until somehow our letters never connected again . . . they were all returned.

We couldn't make contact with their parents. The years went by until ten of them had passed. Both of us were out of the military by then.

My husband & I took a wonderful trip to Hawaii and on our flight home we were to be seated in different part of the plane. The lady at the check-in desk said that she would ask the single lady if she would trade seats with my husband. She asked ... and the lady said that would be fine with her ... so we sat together from Hawaii to Dallas.

When we landed and stood up, we heard a voice from the back of the plane scream "Mollie & Ernie"! Immediately we knew that the voice was Barb's voice, we remembered the voice so well. What a grand reunion that was ... lots of hugs, lots of tears and making up for lost time. We traded addresses & phone numbers and the rest is history. Barb and Dave moved again, just as we did .. but we kept in touch each time. Now we visit often . . . talk often . . . email very often and even though we are about 12 hours away from each other we see each other at least three times a year. Two years ago we took a two week trip through Scotland together and are planning another trip for next year.

I still sometimes think that this unusual reunion is a dream! Now, I'm off to find some photos of the four of us to add to this my second blog posting. I think that I may be hooked on blogging . . . so long as the prompts are there for inspiration!