Every once in a while, something clicks a memory for us. It could be an anything. An ANYTHING at all.
Like… maybe a lemon rolls across the counter top. And seeing that sight might remind you of a time when you worked at a Concession Stand, making Lemonade Slushies, during summer vacation your senior year in high school. That was the summer you met Sally Jo Kapernichek, and you were certain she was the one. But of course she wasn’t. At the end of August, you moved back to Indiana, and she went home to Tennessee, and you never saw her again.
Those are the kind of anythings.
Just a few minutes ago, I finally sat down to relax. It was nearly 9 p.m. this Christmas Night. My day started at 4:30 a.m. Between then and now… a lot of things happened, from peeling a small-truck-load of potatoes, to washing dishes, to serving platefuls of desserts, to playing checkers and chess. Not one of those things reminded me of 1984. But tonight, after a long hot shower, an appointment with my jammy pants, and flopping on the bed, I opened my laptop to see the news of the day.
There it was. George Michael died. The Pop Superstar. As soon as I read the news, I heard the song in my head. “Wake me up, before you Go-Go……..” and I was catapulted back to 1984… and countless nights of dancing to that tune while partying at a huge Disco in Dayton, Ohio…. called 1470. We would party and dance all night long. And the music of George Michael was always at the top of the DJs’ short list. “Don’t leave me hanging on like a yo-yo.”
I wasn’t a big fan of his, or anything. But suddenly, I am thinking about my college summers, and the people I knew. I was reminded how different my life was then, and my entire outlook on the world, and life, an me. I tried to remember what Christmas was like in 1984, and who I spent it with. And it was all a big swirling, whirling rush, of colors, and sights, and sounds…. and memory after memory.
One headline. A lemon on the counter. A shiny Volkswagen Bug. It could be an Anything. Anything at all.
The memories are all there, just waiting to be roused from their deep sleep.
And then I thought. I hope when my face, or my name, or my action… blips across anyone’s radar screen, it is a blip that is remembered well.
And while I can’t change any of those ticks on the tock from long ago… I can try to make sure that any mark I am making now…. will be a good one. As I start my day, I can put my feet on the floor, and hope to walk the good walk. And do the right thing.
So that if my doings, or comings, or goings… pass anyone else’s happenings…. that mine will be remembered well… because I was choosing to do the right thing. At the right time.
And that’s the way the Disco Ball Bounces George. That’s the way… Uh-huh. Uh-huh.