"You remind me of a Man..."

Old Hollywood film buffs will recognise the title of this post as a line from The Thin Man books and films. It really was meant as comic relief for the subject of this post.

Out on an errand today, we fell into talking about 'the War' - that is to say, World War Two. And it occurred to me that the young lady 'a part of "me"' was then had almost no experience of non-military life, being first a sort of Girl Guide involved in the war effort, then a secretary to a military official, then the wife of a young officer. How strange to come into civilian life after the war!

At any rate, I was curious enough to look up the man for whom she worked until 1944... and was stunned to realise that he looked exactly like the new CFO of the Archdiocese where I worked for over 8 years. The old CFO had retired, and on the very first day of the new man's tenure (which wasn't even a full day) I went home with the worst migraine of my life. I was always wary of him, until the day I left due to increasingly poor health.

I am not saying that I think that he WAS the same man - I think it unlikely - merely that he looked and acted like him, and I, having an instant aversion I could not explain, manifested this as stress which affected my adrenal condition. I don't blame the CFO, who was hardly the sort to be aware of ordinary undertones let alone the au dela. It was my reaction.

But it does tell me a lot on very subtle levels about the young woman's actual inner life and real feelings, which were mostly opaque even to her.

The world is a very funny place.