So yesterday I asked the folks on Facebook if they had a special song with their “sweetheart” and of course to share what it was.
I love to read the answers and why people love a song. A lot of it has to do with timing… If you fell in love in the 60′s your speical song is more likely to be from Sonny & Cher than from George Strait. There is also the matter of what you danced to when dating or what made your heart sing when you were married. Timing is everything.
Our song has a lot to do with timing too. And, mind you, not all timing is good timing….
You see, Lisa and I had been friends for several years but when the magic happened things moved along pretty quick. We were both single parents doing the second-time around romance long-distance so if truth be told we really came to a point where we couldn’t afford to keep dating and paying all our money to phone bills and airline companies.
Yes, fall was in the air and Lisa was going to meet me and my boys in Fort Worth that October where I was playing Red Steagall’s Cowboy Gathering. I mustered up all of my confidence as well as what little was left of my pocketbook and headed for the nearest mall with a jewelry store the week before the Gathering.
Lisa flew down to Fort Worth where my trusty side-kick, my brother Jeff, picked her up from the airport and brought her to the Stockyards. She looked as pretty as ever, so with the ring in my pocket we spent the day with my family enjoying the event, and me nervously waiting for the right moment to pull her aside and pop the question.
After dinner we all walked back to the big tent where Red and his Bunkhouse Boys were puttin on quite a dance. “Ahhh, here is the place.” I thought. We watched the dancers for a while then I turned to my friend JB Allen & his wife and asked if they would keep an eye on the boys for a moment while we danced. Well, JB knew something was up so of course he wanted to stick around for the spectatin’.
Ammassing all my will power I ushered Lisa onto the dance floor and we swirled around the tent until I finally gathered enough courage to stop in a corner, and on one knee, I asked my very surprised sweetheart what she was doing for the rest of her life. Without missing a beat she gave the answer that every nervous man hopes to hear, “Following some ol’ cowboy around!”. It was then I slipped the ring on her finger and said “Welcome to Texas!”
And…., then, as the song ended and we were making our way back to JB, Margaret, and the boys, Lisa paused and said the words I will never forget…. “Oh, I want to remember this moment forever Sweetie… What song were they just playing?”
It was at that moment that “our song” was created. And it just so happened that Red and the Boys, which happened to magically include all the living Texas Playboys that night, were playing an old blues standard… “Misery” sung by none other than the great vocalist Leon Rausch.
Timing….. it is everything. I can assure you, we laugh about it now, but we will never forget it!
Happy Valentines everyone. From our house to yours, we wish you a wonderful day wherever you are.
