Roger Zee Memoirs
1972 Rachel 05/02/21
I first met Rachel in 1972 during my sophomore year at Brandeis University in MA when she responded to a flyer I posted on the Student Union ride board. You see, I owned a huge, Sixties, hand-me-down Dodge Monaco station wagon and wanted some riders to keep me company as well as split the cost as I headed home to Great Neck, Long Island for Christmas break. Welcome to another episode of the "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician." B-|
As usual, I got to know Rachel and the other two riders a bit as we chatted on our five hour drive to NY and as well on the way back to school after I picked them up two weeks later. A quiet brunette, demure but deep, Rachel shined an intense light that lit up my soul! Before long, we morphed into inseperable buddies -- walking and talking between classes, doing homework together, and just plain hanging out. But with a twist. Because she mentioned a fiance back home, I backed off from making any "improper" advances. :-O
But she attracted me more with each passing moment. Oh, the heat when Rachel casually grazed me. And then she began touching me more and more. It all came to a head one night while sitting on her dorm room bed listening to Cat Stevens with the lights turned low. Suddently, she reaches out, gently pulls me down, and gives me the deepest, most luxurious and delicious soul kiss. Then whispers, "Make love to me..." ;-]
That sure takes me by surprise! Although in retrospect, deep down I sensed it coming. But what should I do? She's getting married in the Spring. Will she regard this as a one time indiscretion and always regret it? Rachel never much talks about her upcoming Spring marriage. Will she break my heart and toss me aside after a casual fling? Or will we fall into forever love? >:/
In the end, I back off and gently tell her I don't feel comfortable making love to a woman about to get married. She doesn't say much and I leave. From then on, whenever we pass each other on campus, we both turn away uncomfortably. I heard through the grapevine that she did get married and left Brandeis at the end of the semester. :{
At the time, I felt sure I did the right thing. Mr. Self Righteous, acting so chivalrously, strong in my moral rectitude. But now after all these years, I really wonder. Given the chance, if I could travel back in time, I think for sure now I would go for it! ;-)
So as the Magnolia trees blossom in my neighborhood, my heart opens up too as the Pandemic slowly fades from my double-vaccinated consciousness. So I take a deep breath through my nose, pick up Bluie, my trusty Mexican Fender Jazz Bass, and dream of future love coming my way as I softly play along to Ace's "How Long" from their "Greatest Hits" album. One <3
YouTube - How Long - Ace
©2021 Roger Zee
