JOURNEY

It's the journey, not the destination. Time keeps on marching, marching into the future!

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Dancing to I'll Be Seeing You and knowing that each second, minute, and hour will pass all too quickly, you move and sway to the music as if it will go on and on forever. "If only," you sigh.

Outside, the crunch of leaves under your feet and the sudden wind gust, it's signs that it is time to go. While inside the movie theatre, the popcorn wafts as the War News Reel plays in the darkness. Forlorn, there's no time to take in a movie.

On the street, you pass soldiers in their military uniforms. Their destinations and futures are unknown. Melancholy envelopes you and the pedestrians.

On time, you arrive at the station. The clock at the Pennsylvania Station shows a quarter to five. On board the train, the soldiers sing Chattanooga Choo Choo. Cigarette smoke fills the passenger car. Hours later, the rowdiness changes to calm. When daylight ends and the farmland turns to prairies, the train lights are off and the shades pull down.

The train will carry millions. You pass a poster "Keep 'Em Rolling" The Railroads are the Backbone of Defense." You travel for several days as you watch America's landscape pass by.

From rail to ship, you travel to Guadalcanal, for six months in the tropical jungle, you survive the heat, the insects, and the violence of war.

Devising your own code, you send and receive letters. During the war, soldiers frequently receive a Dear John letter. You never have to deal with that kind of letter.

In the Northern Solomons, you are in the midst of the most violent and brutal conflict. Fire flashes in the sky. When guns are fired, there is constant noise. With the whirring of the planes overhead, bombs drop to the ground. Bombs explode and the air is dark and gray. You are in the heat of battle.

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Beads of sweat pour down your face, and the faint scent of cherry tobacco met your nostrils, you woke to the train horn blast. Clueless! Frantic and disoriented, you have no idea where you are. The scent of cherry tobacco reminds you of the bus rides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. With clicky clack noise and the swaying motion, it registers that you are on a train.

"What in tarnation?" you ask. It's daylight, but you don't see any other passengers. You wonder aloud, "Where is everyone ?" Dry heaves and dryness fill your mouth.

As if someone is stuffing your mouth with cotton, there is no moisture. Your mouth is dryer than dry. You can barely whisper, but you try and call out, "Hello!"

You receive no response. Searching your pockets for a train ticket or any details regarding your situation, you come up empty. No ticket. No information.

As the train moves faster down the track, the train horn blasts three times. Barreling down the track, your pulse beats faster and in-sink with the speed and rhythm of the train. You count to a thousand. There are no signs that the train is slowing or stopping. You begin to overthink, "Is this a runaway train with no signs of stopping?" Another thought rattles in your mind, "It's going to crash! Where is the train headed?"

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The light is blinding. The brilliant white light is overhead as the doctor wipes the sweat off his brow. He announces to the nurse, "You can move the patient to ICU."

After ten hours in the operating room, you move to ICU. Weak and in frail condition, you groggily ask the nurse, "Where?"

She asks, "Do you have any idea where you are?"

"In a hospital?" you weakly and questionably reply.

The nurse says, "Yes! That's right!"

"Which hospital?" you quiz.

Immediately, the nurse replies, "You are at Triple Army Medical Center in Hawaii. You have been in the operating room for 10 hours. You need to rest now. I'll answer your questions in the morning. You will be given morphine and will sleep. If you need more, you can buzz me."

The next morning...

Somewhere in the Medical Center, the radio is playing Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy.

The nurse enters the ICU and checks on your vitals.

Hyperventilating, you are in a panic. You badger the nurse, "My left leg, is it gone?"

"Yes, your left leg was amputated, but the doctors were able to save both of your arms," the nurse confides. Keeping her composure, the nurse cheerfully announces, You can go to a room on the third floor. An orderly will be down shortly or within an hour to take you to your room. Do you have any other questions?"

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In your room on the third floor of the Tripler Army Medical Center, you turn on the radio. You listen to the end of, In the Mood. The next song begins.

You hum along,

"I'll Be Seeing You."

Knowing the words, it is your favorite verse. You sing along,

"I'll Be Seeing You."

You close your eyes and listen to Billie Holiday sing,

"I'll Be Seeing You."

YouTube Billie Holiday

I'll Be Seeing You, Billie Holiday, 1944