A song that reminds me of a happy time

I'm sorry for my absence, but we have been running up and down the roadways for the past two days with one thing and another.  No, we weren't Christmas shopping; we got away from that long ago, except for gifts to favorite charities.

This morning, something made me think of a song from the time when our son had entered the Army and our daughter was still at home.  It was time for Jim to graduate basic training and I wanted to see the ceremony, which was at Fort Benning, Georgia near Columbus.  Cliff has never enjoyed driving a car for such a long trip and because of that, he didn't want to go; I don't drive and never have.  Rachel, our daughter, had her driver's license, and she was glad to get a chance to go on a road trip.  We've always said she should have become a truck driver:  She was and is an excellent driver, and always liked being "on the go", so she became my driver on the trip.  I've always been glad I got to see our son graduate.  When all those soldiers came out in front of the crowd, they looked so young!  That's when it occurred to me that most of the soldiers down through the ages have been teenagers.  I knew my Uncle Paul and my sister's husband, Russell, had fought in World War II; but I never thought about them being barely out of their teens!

Jim stayed in the motel with us that night, I recall.  I don't know what time of day Rachel and I left Columbus to make the 13 hour trip home, but it seemed as though we drove and drove, and were still a long way from home when darkness caught us.  I told Rachel that we would stop at a motel whenever she needed to, because we were still a long way from home.  We came to a stretch of highway where we weren't seeing cars going either way, and I remember saying, "This feels like something out of the Twilight Zone."

On we went, with me reminding her once in awhile that we could get a motel.  "We will if I need to," she said.

The radio was playing the stations she chose, and in this strange atmosphere where it felt we were the only two people alive, Lionel Richie came across the airwaves singing "Say You Say Me"; I'd heard it before, but never paid attention to it and did not know the words.  However, when Lionel got to the chorus, Rachel said, "Sing it with me, Mom."  So I picked up the simple chorus easily and we sang together down that lonesome highway whenever the chorus came up.

For years I'd listen to that song, just to remember that magical night when all was well with the world and my daughter and I were having such a good time.  I never paid attention to the words of the verses, but sometimes I'd sing along on the chorus.  There's nothing like a song to make you remember certain times, people, or places.  For some reason, I forgot the song entirely for a few years, until today.

This morning I crawled in bed with my husband as I do every morning.  We spent some time just talking and enjoying one another's warmth and company when "Say You Say Me" came to mind.  I told the Alexa device beside his bed to play the song and for the first time, listened to all the words.

Say You, Say Me

Say you, say me say it for always
That's the way it should be
Say you, say me, say it together
Naturally

I had a dream I had an awesome dream
People in the park playing games in the dark
And what they played was a masquerade
And from behind of walls of doubt a voice was crying out

Say you, say me, say it for always
That's the way it should be
Say you, say me, say it together
Naturally

As we go down life's lonesome highway
Seems the hardest thing to do is to find a friend or two
That helping hand
Someone who understands
That when you feel you've lost your way
You've got some one there to say, "I'll show you"

Say you, say me, say it for always
That's the way it should be
Say you, say me, say it together
Naturally

So you think you know the answers, Oh no.
Well the whole world has got you dancing
That's right, I'm telling you
It's time to start believing oh yes
Believing who you are
You are a shining star

Say you, say me say it for always
Oh that's the way it should be
Say you, say me say it together
Naturally
Say it together, naturally

Source: LyricFind

Oh, by the way:  We never did stop at a motel; Rachel kept driving, and once we passed through St. Louis, she said, "Oh no, I'm in Missouri.  I'm not stopping now."

And we arrived safely at home in the wee hours of the morning, although when we had only about twenty miles to go, a deer tried to wreck us.  As I said, my daughter is an excellent driver.  Just get her a large bag of Cheetos and a Diet Coke, and she'll go anywhere.

I googled the songwriter and found out Lionel wrote the song himself.  Never believe everything you see on the Internet.  The site where I found the lyrics said Willie Nelson wrote it.