Charlotte Juarez's Going Home

Dear Family and Friends, When my husband John was in Viet Nam in 1966-67, I watched the annual TV show of Bob Hope's tour to the sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines, coastguard the January of 1967. I wrote a letter to Bob Hope, Hollywood, USA (you all know I do things like that) thanking him for going out there. I'm sure that like many wives of Viet Nam vets his visit there gave us the message that someone cared about the men we loved and I was grateful for Bob Hope's commitment and love for these men, and now I realize, women in a very dangerous situation. I was really surprised a few weeks later to find in my mailbox a return response. I've always treasured this, and am attaching a copy of what we received for you. I pulled this out, framed it, and put it among our Fourth of July decorations this year, saying to my family, "This man won't be with us long, and I want us to think of him." Since, Bob Hope recently died, I want to share with the people I love and the friends I hold dear. Best, Charlotte in Phoenix.

PS I'm also attaching my version of "Thanks for the Memory" - Italicised the words that make me think of John.

Thanks for my memory
Of candlelight and wine, Castles on the Rhine,
The Parthenon, and moments on the Hudson River Line.
How lovely it was!

Thanks for my memory
Of rainy afternoons, Swingy Harlem tunes,
And motor trips and burning lips and burning toast and prunes.
How lovely it was!

Many’s the time that we feasted,
And many’s the time that we fasted.
Oh, well, it was swell while it lasted,
We did have fun and no harm done.

And thanks for my memory
Of sunburns at the shore, Nights in Singapore.
You might have been a headache, but you never were a bore.
So thank you so much.

Thanks for my memory
Of sentimental verse, Nothing in my purse,
And chuckles when the preacher said, "For better of for worse."
How lovely it was!

Thanks for my memory
Of lingerie with lace, Pilsner by the case,
And how I jumped the day you trumped my one-and-only ace.
How lovely it was!

We said goodbye with a highball,
Then I got as "high" as a steeple
But we were intelligent people,
No tears, no fuss. Hooray! For us.

So, thanks for my memory
And strictly entre-nous, Darling, how are you?
And how are all the little dreams that never did come true?
Aw’flly glad I met you, cheerio, and toodle-oo.
And thank you so much.