Today was my Mom’s birthday, and this is the song my German Mom and American Dad danced to together before we left Germany after I was born (WWII).
I hope y’all enjoy this version, but this other version is the one they did dance to.
I wish you a very happy birthday, Mama. (Herzlichen Glückwunsch is the translation - did I screw up again???)
This song always makes me makes me cry and want to see them again. Her in her pettycoat-gown and him handsome in his dress uniform.
I miss my Mom and Dad very much.
Bill
Does anybody here remember Vera Lynn?
Remember how she said, ‘We’ll meet again some sunny day’?
Vera! Vera! What has become of you?
Does anybody else in here
Feel the way I do?
Actually, Vera Lynn is still kickin’. Last year she became the oldest living artist to make it into the #1 slot in the UK album chart, at the age of 92.
And Quasi? I have that Cash album.
Happy Birthday, Mrs. Quasi’s Mother, wherever you are.
.
My friend, John.
Like so many other Dopers, always there to provide some kindness when needed and who can relate! 
You always find something to fit how I feel, don’t you?
Thank You!
Bill
Ah, Vera Lynn.
She was known as “The Forces’ Sweetheart”.
From Wikipedia, which phrases it better than I can: *In 1940, one year after the beginning of World War II, Lynn began her own radio programme, Sincerely Yours, sending messages to British troops serving abroad. She and her quartet would perform songs most requested by the soldiers. Lynn also visited hospitals to interview new mothers and send personal messages to their husbands overseas. During the war years she would tour Egypt, India, Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops.
In 1942, Lynn recorded the Ross Parker/Hughie Charles song “We’ll Meet Again”, also appearing in the film of that name. The nostalgic lyrics (“We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day”) were very popular during the war and became one of the emblematic songs of the war. *
My mother, who was born in 1941, introduced me to Vera Lynn, which she heard via her older brothers and sisters, some of whom were teenagers during the war.
Great tune. Check out her version of Lili Marlene, also.
“And Happy Birthday, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are…”
My grandmother was a product of those times. She was a war widow a month before her first wedding anniversary, about 5 weeks after my dad was born. (Before Pearl Harbor too, for you Americans who think the war started in December 1941) She loved all the old Vera Lynn tunes, and the Andrew Sisters, and things like that.
Two years ago I was shopping for a pink blouse* to wear with my suit to her funeral. I saw a bin of CD’s in Sears. There was a Vera Lynn compilation, and Andrew Sisters, and Glenn Miller. I bought all three, and we played them at a reception we had at Dad’s house. I know a lot of those songs from working with seniors, and when I am in a particular mood I will play them all day.
Thanks, Quasi.
*Grandma never had any daughters, so she bought me pink things from the minute she got the call I was born. I hated pink for most of my childhood, but I wore pink for her funeral, and the flowers from me were pink too. Love you Grandma.
One thing I didn’t remember to mention is that throughout the 80s and 90s, Vera Lynn had a lot to do with the Vancouver Variety Club Telethon, appearing many years in a row to sing.
The other thing that I forgot to mention is that “We’ll Meet Again” is at the bottom of my Dad’s headstone.
I love both those versions of the song. Thanks, Quasi, for providing a smile.
And happy birthday, QuasiMama, wherever you may be.
Hopefully, she isn’t asking for ice water, wherever she is. My mom was a “rounder”. She loved a good time, and her German temper most of the time would get the better of my Dad, but they loved each other very passionately.
I still dream of them. Do any of you still dream of your passed-on parents?
My mom was also a terrific practical joker.
When I was little, I was once invited to a female classmate’s birthday party.
Mama took care of the gift for me.
I liked to have DIED when she opened the gift!:eek:A set of panties with the days of the week on the butt.
She was waiting on me when I got home and I guess the look on my face must have been worth it, because she laughed her ass off.
I miss her, but not her cooking. Despite what you may have heard, not all German women can cook, and my Mama couldn’t cook worth a Schitt.
Y’all would have liked her and she would have liked y’all just as much.
My dad too. My dad the drummer who used to battle me and my set at around our birthday times (mine 12.31 - his 12.26). He’d have his Jack Daniels sitting on a tv table beside him and drink while he proceeded to bury me with his stupendous solos.
Thank you, my friends, for indulging me. Y’all rock!
Quasi
