Still Hot

Today is the birthday of one of my very favorite singer/songwriters, well, before Karl Rove gave me the Soul Kiss and made me a Republican.

Oh wait, actually Jimmy Carter made me a Republican.

Anyway, my dirty little secret is that I have adored Dan Fogelberg since his first album came out.






Same Auld Lang Syne has always had a special place in my heart. Oh so many years ago, I was home in Illinois visiting my parents with the Eldest Son. I went to a high school basketball game one night and there, beyond all chance, was my high school sweetheart. He had gone to the University of Illinois while I had headed to Arizona State, but we had kept in touch on occasion, even after I had married and had a child, and he was engaged. We watched the game, and then went up to Lowden Park, where we had spent so much time before. I remember sitting on the rock wall below Black Hawk statue, watching the river, shivering a little from the cold, and talking. This was the time when our lives would go in different directions from here on out, and it was an unspoken good-bye, I think.

When I got home, I was sitting in the dark in the dining room, listening to the radio. Same Auld Lang Syne came on. It started to snow outside and I cried.

I would call anyone a liar who, no matter how good they have it, how much they love the one they have, doesn’t look back on the First Big Love and wonder What If? Not that you would change a thing, but … you wonder.

Happy Birthday, Dan, and thanks for everything.