Monday, March 03, 2008

I Remember It Well


This post brought to you by Soccer Mom in Denial - posting every Monday on a different musical memory.



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My husband and I were having dinner with friends this weekend and the subject of our engagement came up. The actual moment when we became engaged. These friends know us well and have known us for sometime and yet had never heard the story. So we decided to tell them.

It had a romantic setting - Paris in June in front of the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel - on these things we agree. The other details are sort of in dispute. Well, not exactly in dispute - more like we remember them differently. I'm the first woman to go to Paris with her boyfriend who didn't expect a marriage proposal - so the moment itself was a bit discombobulating for me. In a good way. A very good way. I was definitely caught by surprise.

For me, seconds seemed like hours. My recollection of the events occurred in slow motion. My mind was going in six different directions so I can't say which thought preceded which. My husband recalls the details a bit differently - his mind was a bit more focused at the time. On this we can agree, we became engaged in front of one of the most beautiful views that Paris has to offer.

It reminded me of that song from Gigi - that's us, on our 50th wedding anniversary.


He: We met at nine.
She: We met at eight.
He: I was on time.
She: No, you were late.
He: Ah yes! I remember it well.

He: We dined with friends.
She: We dined alone.
He: A tenor sang.
She: A baritone.
He: Ah yes! I remember it well.

He: That dazzling April moon!
She: There was none that night,
And the month was June.
He: That's right! That's right!
She: It warms my heart to know that
you remember still the way you do.
He: Ah yes! I remember it well.

He: How often I've thought of that Friday,
She: Monday
He: night, when we had our last rendez-vous.
And somehow I've foolishly wondered
if you might by some chance be
thinking of it too?

He: That carriage ride.
She: You walked me home.
He: You lost a glove.
She: I lost a comb.
He: Ah yes! I remember it well.

He: That brilliant sky.
She: We had some rain.
He: Those Russian songs.
She: From sunny Spain.
He: Ah yes! I remember it well.

He: You wore a gown of gold.
She: I was all in blue.
He: Am I getting old? Oh no! Not you!
She: How strong you were,
how young and gay;
A prince of love in every way.
He: Ah yes! I remember it well.

7 comments:

soccer mom in denial said...

Yup, Amazing Guy and I are the same way. I just love that song.

Thanks for being a diehard!

Jen said...

Oh my gosh... I loved that song as a little girl. In fact, Gigi was my favorite movie (I so totally did NOT understand it). And Maurice Chevalier was my other crush, along with Yves Montand, until I got old enough and my dad told me I shouldn't like him because he was a Nazi sympathizer. ;-(

But I still love the song and that wonderful scene with Hermione Gingold!

Anonymous said...

I love that song!

Anonymous said...

Haha, that song is so cute. It reminds me of my parents.

Luisa Perkins said...

That is a great one.

Mariposa said...

Awww...sweet!

Jientje said...

What a sweet memory, a wedding proposal on such a romantic location!
Oh and that song is so funny! Lovely post, thanks!