The first was written ten years ago, the revised yesterday and today. Let me know if you like it.
Charles has three daughters, 17, 15, 12. This past week they celebrated his birthday and for his birthday, they gave him an autographed picture of a woman he didn’t know existed. Charles’ favorite song is “Girl for Ipanema.” You can hear him humming or singing this song most days. It seems the news posted a story there is actual a girl from Ipanema for who the song was written. His daughters recognized the song and found her on the web. They conspired together to write her a letter. A couple weeks later, they received letter with a signed picture from the woman. They presented it to him this past Wednesday with a homemade cake by the three cohorts.
Seeing the pride beaming from his daughter’s faces, Charles looked at his wife, Barb, of 20 years and could tell it was time to tell them the truth. Barb simply said, “Tell them about the song.”
Charles with a straight face explained as if it was most important, “My fascination with the song, girl from Ipanema began when I was young and just out of college. My first job was in a small office where we verified deeds for banks records. It did not pay much but it was a job during uncertain times. I had been working there about six months when my boss, Jack, and I were helping a customer with a problem deed. In mid-sentence, this young and beautiful girl walked in from a courier service. She flowed across the room, vibrant and lovely. I stopped talking as she went over to the counter and leave her delivery. The “Girl from Ipanema” was playing on the piped music. I never paid much attention to this song until I heard it with this girl strolling in front of me.”
His daughters staring inquisitively as he continued dramatically, “I could not concentrate until she left my sight. Jack was obviously dismayed at me and I apologized profusely to our customer. I finished answering the questions and returned to my office. That song which didn’t even make much sense, was playing through my head over and over again as I thought about the beautiful girl I saw stroll through the lobby that afternoon. To this day whenever I think of this beautiful girl, the song plays though my head and I have to hum it.”
At this his anxious girls pipe up in unison, “Does mom know about this girl?”
Mom said softly and without emotion, “Let him finish his story.”
The girls peered back to their father with a look that said, “This better be right or else.”
Charles is still telling the story with a deadpan faced.
“It was 5:00, Jack appeared in my office when I was getting ready to head home. I was still humming that silly song. He asked me if I knew that girl who passed through the office just after lunch. No, I replied, but I sure would like to meet her. As it turned out the boss of the courier company and Jack were good friends. Furthermore, the girl was the daughter of the boss. Jack called the boss and his wife that night and told them about my reaction to seeing their daughter. The three hatched a plan for us to meet. You see, as it turns out, she told her mother about me.”
The three daughters were hanging onto his every word with wonder on their faces. Barb had a held back smile to see her daughters so captivated by the story. Charles eye brows came together as he became more serious.
“The next day on a ruse, Jack had me wait in the front office for the courier I was to personally bring an envelope to him. This beautiful girl of my dreams came with instructions to hand the letter to no one but Jack. That left us in a quandary of both of us having a directive to serve the letter to Jack. So, we solved our problem as we smiled at each other. We decided to take the letter to Jack together. By the time, she left I asked her out on a date. That was the end of August and by October; I knew she was the girl I was going to marry. I could not afford much of a ring, but I asked her to marry me.”
Barb held out her hand showing her ring to our girls. “That is why it is such a small diamond,” she added.
The daughters marveled at the romantic tale told by their father and cooed with glee at the small ring of love. Charles let his smile show as the truth became clear.
“That Christmas, your grandma and grandpa overheard us talking about wedding plans being so far off in June. They asked us about being able to wait that long and we both said yes. Which they implied us to be liars and said they did not think we could. We met with the pastor and he arranged for us marry in January. Then we married again in June for everyone else. That is why your mother and I have two anniversaries every year. That is why I hum the Girl from Ipanema every day, because I see your mother every day. As a wedding present, Jack gave me the envelope she delivered that day. Jack told me it was full of blank pages from the copier. He instructed me, if we ever fight, open the envelope and read it. It is still sealed next to the jewelry box on my dresser.”
After a life time of hearing The Girl from Ipanema sung or hummed, the three daughters understood the meaning behind it. They knew their dad had his girl from Ipanema all along. However, Charles did keep the picture since his daughters worked so hard to get it for him. Charles loved the fact they went to all the trouble of searching for the Girl of Ipanema, writing a letter in Portuguese, and waiting patiently for his birthday. The picture and the envelop are side by side on his dresser to remind him how much he is loved. They finished the birthday party by slicing into the cake and enjoying sweetness of the evening.
By Danny Mac All Rights Reserved
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Reviewed by Elise Davies
2/16/2025
The story is very sweet, poignant, even held a tinge of nostalgia, which I enjoyed immensely.
How can one not put themselves in either character's place remembering moments in a life that 'could have been.'
I was on my seat with anticipation just as the young daughters caught up in a timeless tale about their romantic, loving father's youth.
I was enchanted with the tale and found myself smiling throughout.
Kudos to the author for touching my heart. Which is not an easy feat as I am cynical and jaded most days. lol. Lovely story.
It's a beautiful story that kept the daughters guessing. However, you have mixed up past and present tense a great deal. One way to solve that would be to make it all present tense or all past.
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