Someone to Watch Over George
Mr. Bolls paid "Old Jack" fairly well for those days, and Jack managed to put away a little, and after a few years tried his hand at the stock market during those boom times of the '20s. He had a great financial mind, but even more important, he had the knack, and after not too many years he had amassed a small fortune. He had enough sense to get out before the crash of '29, and soon was picking up blue chips at bargain prices. While people were hurling themselves out of windows on Wall Street, he just got richer and richer after the Crash.
Of course, he helped his two sons and their families and by the mid '30s we were all pretty well off. I had been able to graduate from high school and had taken private music lessons. Janine was about to finish at City College.
* * * * *
His grand piano dominated the room. The only other furnishings were a thick tan carpet and some floor lamps. The view of the City from the high cathedral windows was breathtaking. Here's where it all happens, I thought.
"Now, Julia, just sing this song the same way that you sang Summertime the other night at Jake's. Don't be nervous. You wouldn't be here if Ira and I did not think you had a great voice. Ira was really impressed with your phrasing. 'She sings it just the way I hear it' he told me after you left."
It was winter in New York, and I was wearing a long blue scarf around my shoulders. My sister, Janine, gave it to me for luck on my special day. I hoped it went ok with the soft colors of the conservative (but not severe) lilac dress that I had bought special for the occasion. Even at the club I did not dress provocatively; I wanted people to appreciate my talent, not my figure.
I stood up from my chair across from where Mr. Gershwin was sitting at the piano. I found myself focusing on the golden afternoon sunlight streaming through the window facing the river. Mr. Gershwin started playing, and slowly, lovingly I sang Ira's beautiful lyrics:
There's a saying old, says that love is blind
Still we're often told, "seek and ye shall find"
So I'm going to seek a certain lad I've had in mind.
I felt giddy with joy, almost faint when
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