Thirty-eight years ago, we married in the chapel at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Didn’t have a honeymoon… had to get back to work… it was monthly financial closing. Now, every day is a weekend, a vacation, a honeymoon. Of course we were at the beach today. Quite a bit cooler, but still sunny, and a beach all to our own.
And then, instead of dressing up, driving to Grand Rapids and going to an expensive restaurant, we went to our favorite haunt… Old Boy’s Brewhouse. The Fan Club was playing their Thursday night gig, strolling from table to table taking requests. Tommy Foster leads the band, and is a human jukebox with almost limitless memory. Any genre, most any band, they can’t play every song, but can play something from most any group.
But this was a special request. A slightly obscure song. Thinking back, our first shared song when we dated in high school was “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by the Beach Boys. Over the years, we have shared many, many songs that had special meaning to us. Somehow I saved one to myself. All these years. A Beatles song. A favorite one of mine from when I was just a kid. Thru our college years, and the decades beyond, this song increased in meaning to me. Incredibly, I never shared it with my wife. Until I requested it tonight.
A long shot that they would know it and be able to play it. Fortune smiled on us again. Tommy had recently played it with some other musicians just a month ago. And The Fan Club always has the talent to jump right in.
“Any possible way you can play ‘Two of Us’ by the Beatles?”
“Yes, yes we can!”
A poor quality, stealthy recording mid-song. Yet another great memory. A perfect nightcap to our day. My secret song I saved for 38 years to share with my wife… tonight.
Longer than the road that stretches out ahead
Two of us wearing raincoats
Standing so low
In the sun
You and me chasing paper
Getting nowhere
On our way back home
We’re on our way home
We’re on our way home
We’re going home”