Nothing is as it appears, I guess....a memory

Sometimes our minds will come to rest on a memory in a habitual way. This is how I often thought of my first month long engagement singing a single, in an airport bar, when I was 21 years of age. Whenever I have thought of that eye opening time, I would just thank my lucky stars that I never had to go back there again.

But recently, with this assignment, it came to me. This was such an amazing and wonderful experience! Oh, granted, I am totally not the (early 1970's) airport bar type, and I admit I hid in the bathroom as often as I could on break, which gives you some impression of how gregarious my nature can be.

But, some magic happened there. One of my first nights, a most amazing man came to me and requested that I sing Greensleeves, which I had just done. I informed him of that.

I know he replied But, I would love to hear that song again. It really touched my heart.

He offered me a $20 tip to sing it again. That was the largest tip I'd seen so I readily sang it. But, something in the man touched my heart so much too. Plus, he liked my singing, and I sure needed that kind of feedback. (Plus he was hot.)

I asked if he would come in later, as he was having dinner and was not in the bar. He was not able to do so. He said his life was busier than he'd like, but he would try to come back, and though each night I would wish for him to return, he never did.

My new boss wanted to fire my inexperienced and unbarlike self ASAP, but kept saying that if that man liked me, he was going to keep me on. I didn't have a clue, but apparently this man thought that he was some sort of big fish in the pond.

Long story, very short (because we were not to officially meet again for another ten years) this is the man I have been married to for the last 25 years. Very many other strange encounters and "coincidences" occurred to finally bring us to meet and marry, but I won't go into all of that now, as it is basically a very long serendipitous book.

Another person I had the great pleasure of meeting at that "month of hell" (I used to call it), was my very very very best lifelong friend. One day she showed up with a man who taught guitar at Ohio State College who had wanted her to hear me. The second I saw her, I knew she and I would always be close, and that is exactly how it turned out.

So, it dawned on me, now that I have taken the time to step back from the pain of some of the experiences there, that this was not as bad a gig as I thought, but rather it was one of the nicest experiences of my life, because it led me to two very very important people in my heart and life.

I guess when it comes down to it, we so often don't have a clue...how magical each experience really is, how important the moment is... ah life! It is a mystery isn't it?