My additional song today is ‘An American Trilogy’, which I sing for my daughter, Rebecca, who is in lockdown mode at her London flat. Becky is single and has a highly responsible job in London where she has been working from home. For the past two months, Becky has not moved outside her flat and the farthest she has walked is to her dustbin. She has had asthma all her life and is therefore within the more vulnerable group category. She wanted to visit and stay for a weekend this June but told her that was not possible during this lockdown period, plus my daily trips to the hospital in Leeds for deep radiotherapy treatment to my face, neck, and throat. Naturally, my daughter was disappointed as she has not seen me since Christmas week, 2019, and especially, like half the country, she is starting to feel fed up to the back teeth with her own company.
Let me remind you of a time in our childhood, Becky, when you made your dad the happiest man in the world and provided me with a treasured moment that I will always remember with fondness. You were aged 5 years old at the time and had just started (or was about to start) First School in Mirfield. Unlike today, your mood was always placid and you were at your happiest when you were either napping in the dog basket by the back door or being cuddled in either your dad's or mum’s arms.
My song I sing you, dearest Becky, is ‘An American Trilogy’ that Elvis Presley, the undisputed King of Rock and Roll made famous 24 years before you were born, but which has a close association between you and me.
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This song reminds me of one weekend night around 1990 when your mother and I had taken you and your brother, William, to a caravan site in Great Yarmouth for a week. The caravan site had been highly recommended by a family friend and master builder called Alf. The site had one entertainment hall, where all caravan site visitors could drink, dance and be entertained nightly. Naturally, with it being a family-caravan site, children were also allowed in the entertainment hall.
While I cannot recall the prize we won, my reward that night was to see the pleasure on your face when you and your dad won a dancing competition together, and the best thing about our dance was that you did not have to do a thing, except cuddle me while we waltzed the floor together. As your mother watched William at our table, I lifted you up into my arms and we danced around the floor to the song ‘An American Trilogy’.
You were probably too young at the time to remember, Becky, but I will never forget that moment and that huge smile on your face when we were proclaimed the popular winners. That precious moment between a father and his daughter is what I will always treasure, and that song makes me instantly think of that evening in Great Yarmouth. It gives me great pleasure to remind you of that Great Yarmouth moment as I sing for you ‘An American Trilogy'.
Love you lots, Becky. Dad xxx