Lovesongs Through the Radio

When you were a kid, did you ever go see a movie that you enjoyed so much that it stuck with you for days? All your daydreams and make-believe centered around it. You almost ached to be in that movie.

If you are like me, this hasn't happened to you in years. Or if it has, it has been very infrequent. The film "Once" came awfully close last year.

Well, this weekend there was a show that hit that ancient, long-untouched bullseye. Not a movie, but music-- the long-awaited Reivers reunion at the Parish on 6th Street. These past two days I have been awash in the memories and emotions of that experience. Unshakeable, it fills my every idle moment.

The evening started in Roux, the restaurant on the ground floor of the Parish building, at a pre-show dinner put on by Rob Caldwell, the host of http://www.thereivers.net/ . Raf had gotten us in on this, and we were very surprised to find that, apart from Raf and us, everyone else was from out of town-- and mostly from out of state. It was very odd to be in the position of having people asking about the details of what life in Austin was like in the 80s and early 90s. We met lots of really nice folks and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

In short, the Reivers show was awesome, and I will leave off trying to describe it in much detail other than to say that it was immensely fulfilling on so many levels. The defining moment for me was when the band played "Dragonflies"-- a song that Mila and I consider "our" song for no other reason than that we loved it and listened to it during our courtship. So there we were, good friends all around us, many familiar faces in the audience from so long ago, that incredible band back together in a move that no one expected, and playing our song. We put our arms around each other and swayed gently.

Some cultures have envisioned Heaven as a wedding feast--- your best friends and dearest family members gathered around one table, beyond the scope of time, the act of completion, celebration, contentedness. I understand perfectly why that image was chosen. And as we swayed together in time to the music I thought of how much I love Mila, how much my friends mean to me, how lucky I was to be there that night, how lucky I am to be in this time and in this place, and I thought of something Fast Eddy once said: "The Universe sings lovesongs to me through the radio." I was surprised to feel a welling of tears, and then when two escaped I was surprised to find that I didn't mind.

Fast Eddy is right. The Universe does sing lovesongs to us through the radio.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.