A Funny Story

I asked Marie to tell me a funny story. All of her stories seemed to me so serious. Those of you that know me, know how much I love to laugh. Marie said, "I don't know if I have a funny story."  The story she ended up telling me is hilarious in my estimation.
At the time this story happened, Marie had had three babies. She had gone to the Military Ball where Tommy Dorsey was going to be playing. This was a big deal. Tommy Dorsey's band was called the Greatest Band.
Her second cousin's daughter sang with his band. Marie's cousin introduced Marie to Tommy and told him that Marie could sing. She asked him if Marie could sing with his band that night; just one song and that would be so nice of him. Tommy said, "Well get her up here."
There was just one problem, as happened back then many new mothers  were not given the prenatal vitamins that they are now. Marie's teeth suffered from lack of calcium resulting in the extracting of all of her teeth. That night she carried a fan to cover her face.

Marie Aubin Lizotte 

In those days they had no microphones, so the audience had to be quiet as little mice. (Marie's words)
She sang a song with a fan in front of her face which made hearing her even more difficult for the audience to hear/understand. That night was exciting and embarrassing at the same time. However, how many of us can say we sang with the country's Greatest Band?
Tommy Dorsey played trombone with the ease of a genius. The band played swing and jazz. I would have loved to have heard her sing.
Marie had headed in the wrong direction and had started smoking when she was a teenager. She started having problems with her throat and went to the doctor. He told her to quit smoking. She never smoked another cigarette and continued to sing resulting years later in this wonderful story.