The other day, I was listening to a song from the Moody Blues. I used to listen to them quite a bit back in the Army days, But there are three songs that I attach to my days in high school. Whenever I hear those songs, I am taken back to those days in Saginaw Michigan at Michigan Lutheran Seminary. But the other day, I heard the song "I know you're out there somewhere." And it reminded me of a specific person for some reason. And I am baffled why my brain makes this association.
The person in question is Sara McArthur. (Not sure of the spelling of her last name.) She was a girl in my class that I barely knew. She was one of those classmates where I shared no classes throughout all four years. She got a boyfriend her freshmen year ( He was a junior, if I remember properly) and she pretty much just hung out with him and his circle of friends. ( mostly townies.... Not dorm rats like the majority of us...) In other words. I knew very little about her.
And yet, there are things I do know... Mostly because we spent 4 years in fairly close proximity to each other at the same high school. And when you live in a Dorm for 9 months out of the year, you tend to learn things about the people you live with.
She did not do sports. She did not do band. ( that I know if) Her sister was a senior back in 1985 and was a Cheerleader. And was Senior Class Rep!
Sara was none of those things.... Sara pretty much kept a low profile the entire four years we were there.
And the most notable thing I remember about her was that she liked to roller skate. Particularly, this one time when Rob Hemple and I were walking out in front of the Dorm on a spring afternoon during our senior year. And Sara was listening to music on her Walkman.... And Roller Skating...
All by herself. As if she were dancing alone.
It was memorable.
Her boyfriend had graduated, and yet, I think he remained in contact with her those two years when he was no longer "there." (Being a townie meant you can visit the campus when ever you wanted...) But I don't remember seeing much of him... Except at maybe an occasional football game or so.
And that all brings me back to the original thought. Why is it that that song from the Moody Blues triggers all of those memories. Memories of a girl from my past. A girl I hardly even knew back when I was there. (Heck! I barely even spoke to her!) What is it about the magic of Music? That can transport you to places and bring up memories of people you have not seen or thought about in years.
Sara married someone who was not that guy in High school. ( I'm not sure.what ever happened to them) But I found her on Facebook a number of years ago. She occasionally posts things about her life. And her name has changed since she got married. But otherwise, I do not contact her.
You would think that there are songs that you have with your wife that are special and very specific. And if you were to ask Cheryl about "Our song" I'm sure she would list a number of songs that "could" be "our song...." But most likely... She would say "Lady In Red" by Chris De burgh. It is a memorable moment from Mark and Brenda Noorman's Wedding when the DJ played that song over and over again because the Bride's Maids all wore red dresses.
And the song stuck.
Personally, the song that reminds me most of Cheryl is from the Pet Shop Boys. "West End Girls". She was the first person who played that song and knew who sang it.
It was memorable.
I'm sure everyone has similar moments where songs trigger a memory.... Maybe a good memory, Or even a painful one. (Dan Fogulburg : Same Old Lang Syne comes to mind...) Either way, the longer you live, the fuller your library of songs and memories become. and eventually, you forget what the connections between the two.
And you write a blog post about it. At 2 AM in the morning... Because you work second shift at Haribo ( And you are are enjoying an IPA from New Glarus....
And you suddenly realize that you are getting old. Which is a good thing in that you have acquired a vast cache of knowledge and experiences to draw from.... But your memories of those moments have begun to blur. And now you try to remember what it was that brought that memory to the forefront of your mind...)
With the music from a song....
Back when the music was filled with the magic of youth and undiscovered dreams. And it would cling to moments that we would unconsciously hold on to as adults.
Back when we tried to make every second count.
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