Republishing the chapters during Operation Desert Storm . . . another example of women remembering different details than men.

by Richard L. Thornton, Architect & City Planner

Vivi the French Courtesan was astounded that I made virtually no mention of Operation Desert Storm in the first draft of this book. She correctly pointed out that news from the Middle East dominated the TV screens for months and radios were playing patriotic music night and day. People came to the party tense and worried about what was about to occur. We were looking at as many as 250,000 American and European combatants being killed, Sadam Hussein said that he was going to destroy the people of Israel with missiles containing nerve gas.

I had also completely forgotten that she had a brother fighting in the French contingent that was about to attack the Iraqis in Kuwait. She had not seen him since age 18 and was filled with guilt because she did not say goodbye to him. This was yet another reason for her to be an emotional basket case. Then, there was the fact that the Soviet Union had hinted that it would honor its treaties with Iraq and come to Saddam Hussein’s aid. We could be beginning World War III.

Presenting the events that occurred in our private lives under the shadow of a war in the Middle East will necessitate republishing of those chapters. Sorry about that. However, the new versions of those chapters include the music that was playing on the radio during that time. I hope you enjoy the songs.