May 30, 2005

Campfire Story

It happened at a resort in the mountains during the summer of 1957. She was one of the guests, a young woman from the city who attended the evening dances with her sister. He was a musician who worked at the resort, playing his trumpet late into the night.

She had noticed the trumpet player, but she was dancing with someone else most of the evening. When the trumpet player left the bandstand, he approached her with a bag of cookies. "Would you care for an Oreo?"

She took a cookie. By the end of the week, they decided they were meant for one another.

It sounds like the corny plot of a summer movie. But it's actually my parents' story. Forty-eight summers later, when the family is gathered around the campfire, and my sister starts talking about the movie Dirty Dancing, my mother says to the grandchildren, "Hey, that is my story." Then she and my Dad tell their story again.

8 comments:

Psycho Kitty said...

Ooh, I LOVE that!

Unknown said...

Aw, who could resist a trumpet player bearing Oreos?

What Now? said...

What a lovely story! I have always believed that Oreos are one of the foods of love, and this story just proves it.

Scrivener said...

OMG, you like the movie Dirty Dancing!!?! Yuck!

(But your parents' story is cute.)

Scrivener said...

And shouldn't you have to post two more times today, to make up for the days you were playhing hooky from the blog? You know, sort of as an atonement.

jo(e) said...

Yes, Scrivener, it's true. I do like the movie Dirty Dancing. The plot makes little sense, the dialogue is corny, and there is nothing attractive about Patrick Swayze -- but I think Jennifer Grey's performance carries the whole movie. Her facial expressions and body language capture the emotions of an adolescent girl.

purple_kangaroo said...

But I want to know what happened next! Did she take the Oreo and leave, but it caused her to notice him after that, or did they sit by the campfire munching oreos and talking into the night?

jo(e) said...

Purple Kangaroo: Oh, he was working a job. So after the ten minute break, he was back on the bandstand. He had to work very late every night, playing until about 2 am, but he had his days off. So they spent time together during the day. After the week ended, they figured they would never see each other again because they lived about 250 miles apart, but they exchanged addresses and kept in touch. And then after he was done with school, he ended up moving to BigCity near where she lived ... and they began dating. After they got married, they moved back to the place where he was born, which is where I live right now.

My Mom still has the cards and letters they sent each other. It's funny now to read them.