“Yes, it seems to be working just fine.”

“Okay then. I need to tell you my name. My name is Walter Cameron Flemish. I am ninety-two years young. I have lived a long, interesting and storied life.

“I generally introduce my lovely wife at a time like this, but she passed a few years ago. I have not been able to introduce her for quite some time. It feels unnatural and I hope that I never get used to it.

“You want to know what is important to me, most important? I have put off this recording session because I have had a lot to think about. I didn’t want to say something flippant. And, I needed to find out for myself what I wanted to say.

“I have thought, long and hard about what is most important and I have pinpointed what I would like to relate to you today.

“The most important event, time, moment in my life is, or was…no is, a very special day. To most it would seem to be a non-descript day in my life, yet to me it meant everything, and still does.

“You see, I have traveled a great deal. I have punted the Thames, I have smelled the Ganges-and I mean smelled it. The Ganges smells and that’s all there is to it.

“I have seen capitals, wonders, spectacular landscapes and spectacular sights. Yet, for all I have seen, done, eaten, smelled and touched, nothing compares to one particular day.

“I remember opening my eyes that morning. I lay in bed listening to the cooing of the doves outside our open window. She was already up and the mingled smells of coffee and bacon wafted into the bedroom.

“I lay on my back, looking up at the dawn rays on the ceiling, listening to beautiful humming coming from the kitchen below. I looked over at the empty side of the bed all rustled up where she had been only a moment before.

“I heard the sounds, smelled the smells, felt the soft sheets and felt at peace. That was the beginning of what would soon become the most wonderful day in my life.

“You may think that travel and exploration would bring more excitement and inspiration than a simple day at home. You would be wrong in thinking that.

“Yes, I highly recommend travel and sightseeing. It is truly breathtaking at times. Yet, all the hype and glamour of life is only a footnote to truly being hopelessly in love.

“It was a Saturday. There was nothing to do and nowhere to go. The phone didn’t ring, nobody visited and nothing broke that needed fixing for an entire day.

“Soon a war would darken our doorstep and many more struggles would come our way. But, not today, not this day. This day was an island. This day was surrounded by clouds of peace and pleasure.

“I sat up in bed. I went to the bathroom at the end of the hall and did all of the necessary business. Then, I went downstairs. She was standing in the kitchen. I gasped. Her hair was up with a scarf encircling it like a halo. She was angelic. She glowed.

“Right now I am tearing up. A picture book could not hold that image clearer than what I can see in my mind’s eye right now.

“She turned, looked at me and smiled. Then she said, ‘Well, look who decided to finally get up outta da bed. If I didn’t know any better, I would say that it was the man of my dreams.’

“I walked to the kitchen and came up behind her, put my arms around her and just stood there. She said just like Mae West, ‘Hey mister roman hands, watch the material!’

“I just stood there holding her, smelling her hair, feeling her breathe. She finally said, ‘Okay, okay, go sit at the table, let’s eat.’ She was smiling, though, I could tell that she liked it too.

“I sat down at the table and she walked over with a white plate, set it down and said, ‘Your order mista. Two of ‘em lookin’ atya wit da pig strips and da crispy hash.’

“I needn’t say that she was a bundle of personality, that one. She had the accents and the facial expressions ta boot.

“Then she started talking about her sister’s latest boyfriend. We ate and I laughed. She could tell a yarn. I just laughed and laughed. We were so happy that day.

“I cleaned up the dishes and the pots and pans. She went out to the porch for a smoke. I joined her later and we just sat on the porch doing nothing. Strange, I spent so much time and money doing things in my life, that my fondest memory, my best day, was spent doing nothing.

“Sitting there on the porch, it was like time stopped. We just sat there in suspended animation, together.

“Now I wake up and she’s not there. I think of that special day, every day. That priceless moment in time, where there was no time, where eternity stopped on our front porch.

“Later, I made sandwiches for lunch. Corned beef on rye. We sat at the table and talked about the day we first met. She remembered every single detail. Or at least I think she did. I didn’t remember any specific details other than the general ones. She could’ve been making the whole thing up and I wouldn’t have been the wiser.

“I remember that we kept making eye contact, then, she would stop talking. We would just sit there until she would look away, then she would start talking again.

“It was love at first sight for us. She had been dating my best friend. They weren’t getting along. I hadn’t been seeing anyone. She and I made eye contact at the soda shop and the rest is history. Funny thing that eye contact business.

“After lunch I put on a record and we danced in the living room. She loved to dance. I have two left feet. She still loved to dance. I think I still have that record somewhere.

“I fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up I smelled fried chicken. I just lay there on the couch looking up at the setting rays of the sun through the beveled window glass. She was humming and the grease was sizzling.

“I got up off the couch. I tried to straighten my wrinkled shirt and in the mirror I saw my wrinkled face. I stumbled to the kitchen and she said in her best Mae West, ‘Well, look what the cat dragged in.’

“I walked up behind her and held her. She said, in her Mae West again, ‘More of this huh? I oughta start chargin’ by the hour.’ I didn’t move.

“After dinner she turned on the radio, put down the window, and we listened to stories and music on the porch. She reached over and held my hand.

“Later we went upstairs and had relations. They don’t call it that any more, but that’s what we did. I fell asleep.

“I miss her now. I miss everything about her. I don’t have her with me anymore, but I will always have that perfect day.”