“They Can’t Take That Away From Me” – Remembering Julie On Our Wedding Anniversary

Allan Showalter

Julie & Allan Showalter – Married July 20, 1980

Another Of Julie’s1 Ideas

It seems as though it should have been more complicated.

After we had lived together for a couple of years, Julie thought we should be married. I was not convinced that being legally wed was a necessary step for us, and Julie made it clear that she was not issuing an ultimatum.

But, I never told Julie “No.”

And once again, it turned out that Julie was right.

They’re Playing From Our Jukebox

Shortly after Julie and I were together, I complained to her that, unlike most couples we knew, we did not have an “Our Song,” and, further, that she was the cause of the problem because no one song could sufficiently represent a relationship with her.

From then on, Julie would periodically inform me that “They’re playing one of Our Top Ten Songs.” Other variations on this theme included “Oh, that’s a newcomer rising fast on Our Playlist,” “From the Country & Western Our Songs charts, we’re listening to …,” and, perhaps her favorite, “Dance with me – that’s a song from Our Jukebox.”

They Can’t Take That Away From Me was a frequently played selection in Our Jukebox. While Julie usually preferred the rendition by Sinatra or, most frequently, Billie Holiday, I’ve lately found myself drawn to Tony Bennett’s more measured and elegant version of the ballad.

 

 

Also See:

The Photos: The younger lady in the photo atop this post is Rachel, Julie’s daughter, much loved by both of us, by her first marriage. The photo at the top left of the montage was taken at our wedding; in it, from left to right, are Julie’s mother, Julie’s father, Julie, me, my mother, and my father. In the photo at the bottom left, the cats, from left to right, are Guido and Diego.

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  1. Julie was my much-beloved, fiercely smart, extraordinarily sexy wife, who died in 1999 from cancer diagnosed the week of our wedding nearly 20 years earlier. She was also a prize-winning writer. This blog includes many other posts about her and the unlikely but true story of our romance as well as several of her short stories and other pieces. For the location of the various content about or by Julie, see Julie FAQ. [↩]