“So many people are concerned with being the perfect something. I don’t want to be the perfect anything.” – Halsey

5 PM.

Late shift at St Francis. Main entrance. Rain. Fog. 47 degrees. Raw.

An elderly lady climbs in the shuttle.

Good evening.

Hi.

Where would you like to go?

To my car in P2.

We begin our journey.

I hear an accent. Mind if I ask where you’re from?

England originally.

Thought so. Never been there but I love much about England. Two of my favorite people in the world are English.

Really. Who might they be?

Winston Churchill and Sarah Brightman.

Yes. Winston was a great man. The world could use a man like that right now.

Yes he was and yes it could.

Who was the other person you mentioned?

Sarah Brightman. You know her?

No. Is she still alive?

Yes. She’s a vocalist. She was married to Andrew Lloyd Weber, one of the greatest composers who ever lived. In my humble opinion. He wrote Cats and Phantom of the Opera just to name a few.

He composed his musicals for her. Anyway, God blessed her with a beautiful voice and the ability to sing like no other.

She is my favorite of all time. She sings and I escape to a parallel world.

So how did you end up in Tulsa, OK?

It’s a long story.

I’m all ears.

Well….my father was an officer in the English Army and we’ve lived all over the world.

Cool. So have I. What countries have you lived in?

China. Germany. India. My earliest memory is of Singapore.

Wow. Singapore.

I was very young but I do remember we got on the last ship out as WWII began.

After America entered the war, I remember, as a little girl, we would watch the American G.I.s as they walked by. We would ask them for chocolate and they always had some to give us kids. One time I ran into our house and told my parents I was going to marry an American.

When I was eighteen I fell in love with an American Sergeant. When my Dad learned that we planned to marry my very proper English Officer Dad was horrified. But he’s only a Sergeant. And an American at that. You can’t.

But I could and I did. We honeymooned in Paris. How neat is that!

We migrated to Arkansas and eventually Tulsa.

Do you ever go back to visit?

Several times but I’m always glad to come back to America. I love this country.

So do I.

“I love to laugh. It’s the only way to live and enjoy each day.” – Doris Day