{"id":25946,"date":"2023-12-08T15:43:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T20:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25946"},"modified":"2023-12-08T15:44:41","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T20:44:41","slug":"episode-926-summer-1959-part-5-vesper-incantato-peregrinam-vides-some-enchanted-evening-you-will-meet-a-stranger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=25946","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 926 SUMMER 1959 PART 5 “VESPER INCANTATO PEREGRINAM VIDES\u201d (SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, YOU WILL MEET A STRANGER)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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EPISODE 926    SUMMER OF 1959:   “VESPER INCANTATO PEREGRINAM VIDES\u201d (SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, YOU WILL MEET A STRANGER)<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Dec. 7,2023<\/div>\n

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Our love affair \u2026on an “enchanted evening” at a dance \u201cacross a crowded room\u201d, I met a “stranger\u201d and <\/div>\n
\u201cnever let her go\u201d.<\/div>\n

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Some enchanted evening<\/span>
You may see a stranger,<\/span>
you may see a stranger<\/span>
Across a crowded room<\/span>
And somehow you know,<\/span>
You know even then<\/span>
That somewhere you’ll see her<\/span>
Again and again.<\/span>

Some enchanted evening<\/span>
Someone may be laughin’,<\/span>
You may hear her laughin’<\/span>
Across a crowded room<\/span>
And night after night,<\/span>
As strange as it seems<\/span>
The sound of her laughter<\/span>
Will sing in your dreams.<\/span>

Who can explain it?<\/span>
Who can tell you why?<\/span>
Fools give you reasons,<\/span>
Wise men never try.<\/span>

Some enchanted evening<\/span>
When you find your true love,<\/span>
When you feel her call you<\/span>
Across a crowded room,<\/span>
Then fly to her side,<\/span>
And make her your own<\/span>
For all through your life you<\/span>
May dream all alone.<\/span>

Once you have found her,<\/span>
Never let her go.<\/span>
Once you have found her,<\/span>
Never let her go! <\/span><\/div>\n

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Love at first sight sounds a little over dramatic but elements were true in my case.  Russ, Jim and I Were singles at a<\/font><\/span><\/div>\n
Victoria College,  U. of T. dance.<\/font><\/span><\/div>\n
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Sophmores\u2026second  year men \u2026inflated egos  perhaps.  I saw her right <\/font><\/span>away.  \u201cacross a crowded room”<\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cJim. that girl looks nice.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d and Jim darted across the dance floor and danced with her then returned<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cJim, you did not give me a chance. I spotted her.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cShe is nice, Alan, really nice.  Your turn is now.\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n

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And we danced.  The evening suddenly become enchanting.  We danced slow to something like \u201cMy Prayer\u201d, cheek to cheek\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
and frantic to any lyric by Elvis Pressly\u201d.   And the dance ended.  The crowd dispersed.   She headed for her residence and <\/font><\/div>\n
we caught the bus to western edge of Toronto.  I did not even catch her name.  <\/font><\/div>\n

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Latin was not my best subject but one fragment got into te the long term storage compartment of my brain. \u201cVesper Incantato,<\/font><\/div>\n
peregrines vides,\u201d \u2026 “Some Enchjanted evening, you will meet a stranger\u201d…across a crowded room.  The hit song from<\/font><\/div>\n
Rodgers and Hamerstein\u2019s South Pacific.   Our Latin teacher loved to sing i to us in Latin.<\/font><\/div>\n

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That is how it happened.  But who was she?<\/font><\/div>\n

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Next afternoon at football practice our team was doing excercises running around the trcak a few times.<\/font><\/div>\n
Lo snd behold, there she was leaning out a window of her residence.  Fourth floor.  I spotted her.<\/font><\/div>\n

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\u201cHi, up there, what are you doing tonight?\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cNothing much\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cMeet you at seven at Wymilwood\u201d (coffee shop for Victoria College students)<\/font><\/div>\n
\u201cOK\u201d<\/font><\/div>\n

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Her name is (was) Marjorie Hughes,  freshwoman from North Bay, \u2026 a nice person for sure.  We clicked<\/font><\/div>\n
She became secretary for her 6T2 student executive.  A lot of people thought she was nice.  One boy<\/font><\/div>\n
even proposed marriage to her unknown to me.  She chose to take a chance on me.  Big risk. <\/font><\/div>\n

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We all have priorities in our lives.  My priorities changed in 1959 as a result of a speech given to<\/font><\/div>\n
Humberside graduate by th Dean of Women from University of Guelph. <\/font><\/div>\n

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 \u201cWhat is most important to you as graduates?\u201d She paused.  “I suspect you have high goals\u2026.high careers in mind.\u201d<\/div>\n
Let me give you a word of advice at this fork in the road of your life journey.\u201d<\/div>\n

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\u201cThe most important goal should be finding a person with whom you wish to spend the rest of your life.\u201d<\/div>\n
Pause.  \u201cCareer is secondary.  Too few people are aware of this.   Your career might last for 30 or so years.  Your marriage, <\/div>\n
should you be so lucky could last twice as long.   Be vigilant.\u201d<\/div>\n

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Number of my fellow graduate thought that was dumb speech.  They had clear careers in mind\u2026doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, etc. etc.<\/div>\n
Personally I thought she was right.  I was looking for a wife.  University was secondary\u2026no university was third .  Football was second.<\/div>\n
   Adventure ss a geophysical explorer was new the top as well.  Until a geologist I worked with died and his body was flow from<\/div>\n
the bush in Chibougamau.  Suddenly this goal faded.<\/div>\n

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 But finding a person with whom<\/div>\n
to spend my life was the very top of my list.<\/div>\n

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We soon got around to holding hands.<\/div>\n

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Marjorie had come through a tough year in her life in 1955 when both her mom and her dad died.  She was<\/div>\n
a Grade 10 student at Lawrence Park Collegiate when all meaning her life had was shattered.<\/div>\n
\u2018I went to school that morning dad died.   I was numb\u2026walked back home. No one seemed to care.”<\/div>\n

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Her mothers’ sister, Phyllis Morgan was a Latin tescher in faraway Norh Bay.  She became Marjorie\u2019s guardian.<\/div>\n
A life changing event..  \u201cAll I owned was put in my suitcase when I took the bus to North Bay.  What wonderful<\/div>\n
years followed.   Chippewa High School.  Dances, Curling Team, Drama Club (I Was a witch), summer cottages, trips,<\/div>\n
friends..<\/div>\n
\u2026life changed.<\/div>\n

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Also a lot of boyfriends many of whom I met.  Nice guys.    <\/div>\n
she chose me<\/div>\n

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My family was huge.  Marjorie became part of it.  Dad was unpredictable so much so that I never brought a girlfriend to <\/div>\n
meet him until Marjorie. He fell in love with her immediately.  She liked horses and Dad had spent a lifetime at<\/div>\n
racetracks looking for the golden ring which  he never grasped.   He loved her so much<\/div>\n
that Marjorie could not breast feed our boys because Dad appeared at our house every spare moment.<\/div>\n

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Marjorie became part of our family.  A big part.  She even spent  several summers as part of a  series<\/div>\n
of mining wildernes jobs one of which was at Paradise Lodge on the lonely Algomaa Central Railway stop<\/div>\n
72 (?) where she brought our cat, Presque Neige, and her electric machine which amused the crew<\/div>\n
as we had wolves howling for the cat at night and no electricity for the sewing machine.<\/div>\n

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we had a very rich life ahead of us.  <\/div>\n

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Love <\/span><\/font><\/div>\n

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EPISODE 926    SUMMER OF 1959:   “VESPER INCANTATO PEREGRINAM VIDES\u201d (SOME ENCHANTED EVENING, YOU WILL MEET A STRANGER) alan skeoch Dec. 7,2023 Our love affair \u2026on an “enchanted evening” at a dance \u201cacross a crowded room\u201d, I met a “stranger\u201d and  \u201cnever let her go\u201d. Some enchanted eveningYou may see a stranger,you may see […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25946"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25946\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}