Time Is On My Side

One of my all time favorite songs is by the Rolling Stones. It is not because I am a die-hard Stones fan. Bear in mind, the Stones rock. I got the see them live in Istanbul, which says quite a bit about my life actually. They deserve to be honored for living like the Rock Stars they are. It is just that the Beatles songbook stuns me. Elvis is my foundation. If there is anyone else on the planet that can say they did their Masters and PhD work on topics related to the King of Rock N Roll, reach out. We can form a small club cause right now, I am the only one that can say that. Still, one of the Stones’ songs touches me every time it plays.

As songs from that band of how the hell do they keep on going guys go, it is likely one of the softest. It is danceable in a hold the other person close to you kinda way. Untypical for Jumping Jack Flash and Satisfaction makers. Still, it gets to me. It is loaded with people for me.

Kathy Langan is in that song. She went to Saint Ann’s school with me. Really nice girl. Long black hair, fair skin, great smile, and, before I even knew what good energy was, good energy. She was nice to be around in any setting. She was the first girl I ever slowed danced with. (Besides my sister and my mom……and I don’t care where you are from…..THAT IS NOT THE SAME.) Kathy and I danced to that song several times a long, long time ago. Each time the song plays, we are dancing to it again.

She was easy to dance with, smelled good, felt better, and pretended not to notice how nervous I was. (Sounds like rate a record, doesn’t it?) It was a magic moment in life and Kathy is mine forever even though I saw her only once since Grammar School. That is the power of music and touch and energy. Kathy is in that song and always will be for me.

She is not alone. Jimmy Donlon is in there, too. It was his birthday party at his house. He is gone. Died young. He is in that song though and will be for as long as I am on this side of the grass. Maybe even longer thanks to these words. Jimmy had a birthday party and I still celebrate that he did. He is remembered all these years later.

Just like another friend, Kerry Walters. High school, passing in the hallway, a few classes together, friend of mine. A nice, really nice kid. He died young too. I think of him right along with others when Time Is On My Side weaves it magic spell. Denyse Tynan is in there, too.

Denyse went to school with me for one year. Ninth Grade. Pretty girl. From another town girl. Talked to her a lot. More than I realized at the time. She wrote a deeply personal note a page long in my ninth-grade yearbook. She died a few years later. She touches me every time I think of her. She steps out of a song, draws my attention to a note on a yearbook in a closet downstairs, and smiles.

Time IS on my side. It is on all our sides. It is all around us and is something much more than what we measure with our feeble timepieces. It is bigger than life. It is in the music and words and more. Thanks for having a party, Jimmy. Thanks for the dance that opened me to the Land of a Thousand Dances, Kathy. Thanks for being there, Kerry and Denyse. Say good-bye, Annette. See you when I see you. Keep your dance card open for me.