Life is a song

~~~I tip my hat to the keeper of the stars. He sure knew what he was doing when he joined these two hearts~~~

The year was 1971 and it was Halloween. It was my freshman year of high school. Halloween was on a Friday night that year. There was a football game and after that there was an all night lock in for the youth at Plymouth Park Baptist Church. PPBC is the only church I have ever attended. PPBC was the place to be at that time on a Friday night and this one was going to be special. It was the first all night lock in that I had ever been to. Food, friends, and great movies to watch made for a great night. We saw two horror/monster movies first. The first movie they showed was Frankenstein vs. The Wolfman. This was right up my alley. I grew up watching all the classics with Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, etc. on Nightmare Theatre on Channel 11. These movies scared the wits out of me as an 8 year old but my Mom was always beside me watching them with me so I wasn't damaged beyond repair. I even outgrew my secret yearning to grow up and be the Wolfman (eventually). But that movie was perfect for me that night. The second horror movie they showed was the great classic " Horror of Dracula" with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. That was the first time I had ever seen that movie and I still consider it to be the best Dracula movie ever. By the time those two were over it was probably between 2-3 AM. I was never much of a night owl and I was exhausted. They started a third movie and it was the Andy Griffith classic " No Time for Sergeants". It is a tremendous comedy and this was the movie that launched the great Andy Griffith's career. But at that instant my prospects for seeing that movie through to the end weren't looking great. I was sitting up in my hard plastic chair and I was starting to nod off. After that came the leaning over and starting to fall out of the chair syndrome. I would jerk myself back awake for a minute or two but that was only to be followed by more nods and jerks. I was a few minutes away from a deep sleep and then I heard her call my name.

Her name is Karen.

Everyone knew her. She was special. She had the sweetest spirit and was abnormally kind to every one. She also had the world's most beautiful smile. Every boy in the ninth grade would have loved to call her his girlfriend but she was considered off the market. She had this boyfriend that everyone knew she was crazy in love with. He did not treat her well but for some reason she was so in love with him. They had just broken up but it was assumed she would go back to him as soon as he called her. For whatever reason he wasn't there that night. She was sitting on the floor maybe 5 feet away from me and saw that I was about to fall out on the floor. She asked me if I wanted to lay on the floor in front of her and rest my head on her lap. Of course I accepted her kind offer. I laid on my back with my head on her crossed legs and she patted my shoulder and said I could just go to sleep right there. When she touched me I was stunned. I had crushes on girls before and I had girlfriends before. But her touch was like a million volts of electricity being shot through me. I had never felt anything like this before. I grabbed her hand and held it. I did not want to let go of her hand and I held it tightly. She held mine back tightly too. I wasn't sleepy anymore. I remember that Andy Griffith movie thanks to her. We watched it, laughed at it, and I held her hand as if my life depended on it. When it was over I didn't want to let go of her hand but I had to. It was dawn now and time for the parents to come get us. We stayed side by side until the folks came. I hated that we had to leave each other that morning. I didn't want that moment to end but it had to. The good news though is that while a moment may end a story will live on. The story of Karen and Rick started that night and has lived on for the last 38 plus years. Our story is still evolving. I don't believe that there has ever been one single couple story about whom you could truthfully say " and they lived happily ever after". I think that "happily ever after" only happens in fairy tales and real life is not that kind to us. I believe that in real life if a couple can get to "somehow we got there" and once they get to that point can say "I can't imagine finishing this thing without you" that they've done pretty well.

We have done pretty well.

~~~And I hold everything when I hold you in my arms. I've got all I'll ever need thanks to the keeper of the stars~~~

I'm off and pedaling for now.