I remember it well. I was in the cafeteria of my junior high with my soon to be new best friend Mary. The juke box was playing songs and we were all sitting around a big round table. I don't know what I was doing, but probably more than likely trying not to be noticed. I was very afraid and painfully shy and caferteria gatherings of any reason were one of the worst parts of the day. Besides gym class, it meant you couldn't hide behind a book or project and most kids were either very mean, or very social or sometimes both. These traits in my co-eds I thought were just awful things to deal with. So, to be in the cafeteria every day, for morning break, then lunch, then again for an afteroon break, I tried to avoid it at all costs. In fact many times I hid over by the girls gym and ate my lunch alone. This went on all thru jr high and then high school.
This particular morning was the same as the morning before. Lots of flingin' kids, music on the juke box (I listened to Elvis Presley & Tom Jones and couldn't have told you who was popular at the time, that May in 1974.) Mary was sitting next to me and I had no idea what was about to happen next. At the very first piano note of the next song Mary flung herself into the huge flatness of that cafeteria table hugging it with all her might and cried. She SOBBED really. Real big Mary tears. She had thick beautiful wavy brown hair and she was beneath it in a heap. I suddenly loved her. But, really, what was wrong with Mary??? I had never seen this behavior before, and not for much of anything this intense. I wasn't familiar with the song but listened intently. I also watched Mary's every move. She cried, she flung, she exclaimed her love for Elton which I finally understood was singing (Harmony), then she exclaimed even a bigger love for Nigel. "Who's Nigel??" I asked her while she sobbed. She then told me all about Elton and "Yellow Brick Road" and the Hollywood Bowl and his glasses and boas. And Nigel. Nigel is all his seemingly Native American Indian Good Looks. This went on thru the whole song and when it was over, she told me E.J. was coming to the Inglewood Forum (with Nigel of course) that Oct. 6th and did I want to go with her. This was the invite of the century. Since I really had no friends because I was so scared I also had just turned 14 and this was huge. It didn't matter that the last 6 months were spent doing very unkid-like things ~ I was invited to go to a concert with Mary and fling and cry and exclaim my love for someone I would probably never meet (I did) and probably never marry (I didn't). This all sounded like BLISS. Like truly, the beginning of my life. And, Mary was the reason for my birth that day. And Harmony.
Our school year was almost over, so I had a whole summer to listen to Elton's music and be prepared for the frenzy of craziness ahead. For the first time in my life I felt like I was witnessing TRUE PASSION. I wanted to feel like Mary for something as simple as a song, or I think, ultimately, an idea. It was like a religion, but better. Mary glowed. Mary was creative, fun, wild and full of passion. This is how I wanted to live my life. This was my blueprint for passion. This was the day I was born.
I think back on that day so many times and today was no different, but today I wanted to put it into words. Crazy 14 yr olds, but it's a feeling that has gone with me since that day. The passion in relationships, good or bad, the passion for a beautifully bred collie, or riding a 50 miler in the Mountains of My Soul. What a grand life we can all live and it's up to us to feel the passion for our lives. We have a short time here on earth and I think it's up to us to feel excitement for every day and blessed for all that we have and what we can give to others and it might be as simple as a friend showing another friend how to feel. Thanks Mary. I will always love you for that.
