7/25/2023 0 Comments Words to me and bobby mcgee![]() ![]() ![]() On his flight from Koror, he had had a family member and friend with him until they reached Guam. His name was Jesus Ngirabelochlech, she told me. I hadn’t been long seated when Deedee approached and asked if I’d mind if a young man sat next to me. “’Dilly’ll turn into “Doozy.” On and on it went until Dilmei finally said, “Just call me D.” “D” soon became Deedee – and she’d been fine with that ever since. “Better not use ‘May’”, they’d said, “unless you’re ready to say “May not!” a lot.” “’Dill’ sounds like a pickle,” they said. She was Dill, Dilly, May, even Delma, Della and Mamie. When she had first enrolled in Flight Attendant training school, the other girls began to use variations on her full name, Dilmei. Yes, she said, it was an unusual nickname for a Palauan girl. Anyway, she spoke Palauan to me and made me feel at home as we settled in for the long flight to Hawaii.Ĭuriosity got the better of me. Maybe I wasn’t becoming as far removed as fast as I thought. Her name was Deedee, and as she told me, she knew somebody who knew me, and she thought she’d even seen me at such-and-such a place once when she was home. Although I didn’t know her, she knew that I’d lived in Palau. The stewardess on our flight – yes, she was still a stewardess back then – recognized me. Each stop, each leg put further distance between me and the previous two years of my life.Īfter a few days in with Cop, it was finally time to leave Ponape. Many of the familiar faces and much of the language I’d come to speak and enjoy would not be reboarding. ![]() In Guam, we had to deplane and wait for a connecting flight east through Truk to Ponape. With each stop, my hold on the last two years grew a little less tight. The flight was fairly full, lots of Palauans, some going to Yap, more heading to Guam, some to Honolulu. The first leg, Koror to Kolonia, was uneventful. After a short layover in Hawaii, it would be back to the mainland, through Los Angeles, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and finally Elmira, NY, and home. (That, in itself, is another story for another day!) After a few days in Ponape, I would leave Kolonia, stop in Majuro, the Marshall Islands, and finally arrive in Honolulu. I had planned this route so I would have a stopover in Ponape to reconnect with my great friend “Cop” and have a few days of vacation with him. From Agana, a hop to Truk, and then to Kolonia, Ponape. The itinerary I’d planned took me from Koror, Palau, to Colonia, Yap, then on to Agana, Guam. Truth be told, it was unlikely any of us who had shared that life would ever see each other again. But I would also be leaving behind family, friends and a life I had come to love. True, I would see family and friends I had not seen in years. Going home after the experience of living – being completely immersed – in a no-longer strange or foreign culture was going to be both happy and challenging. A long time ago, leaving the airport in Koror, Palau after two years of Peace Corps found me filled with mixed emotions. Hearing Janis Joplin sing Bobby McGee always makes me want to cry – and it usually succeeds. There are song to make you laugh, and songs to make you cry. There are songs of love, songs which tell stories songs which arouse patriotism and songs of protest. FOSTERLyrics powered by are songs to make you sing songs to make you want to dance. Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free Feeling good was easy Lord when Bobby sang the blues Feeling good was good enough for me Good enough for me and Bobby McGee. Then somewhere near Salinas Lord I let her slip away Looking for the home I hope she'll find I'd trade all of my tomorrows for a single yesterday Holding her body close to mine. ![]() From the coal mines of Kentucky to the California sun Bobby shared the secrets of my soul Standing right beside me Lord through everything I done And every night she kept me from the cold. I took my ol' har'poon out of my dirty red bandana And was blowin' sad while Bobby sang the blues With the windshield whipers slappin' time And Bobby clappin' hands we finally sang up ever song that driver knew. Busted flat in Baton Rouge headed for the trains Feelin' nearly faded as my jeans Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained Took us all the way to New Orleans. ![]()
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