The end of an era…or two.

Shortly after I graduated from Osbourn I received a letter from Longwood that contained the contact information for my 2 roommates….ugh, I was going to be in a room with not 1 but 2 other dudes!  The guy from Springfield I had a phone number for and so it was with some trepidation that I phoned him (remember, no internet you n00bs).  Our conversation went well and we discovered that we both liked the same type of music.  We both loved Rush as well.  Recall that this was about the time of Rush's monster hit "Tom Sawyer."  A hit like that puts a band on top of mind so everyone had an opinion: Rush was either "thinking mans rock" and worthy of your praise or the lead singer sounded like a bag full of cats having something horrible being done to them.  Either way, as long as we could stand each other's music, we would be fine.  Never did get hold of my other roomie but upon meeting him, he was down with the program.  We got along; thick as thieves.  The other guys had nicknames (I never have had a nickname really) and I'll stick with those: Egg & Jr.

We spent hours and hours listening to Rush (and Zep, etc, etc but this is not that) in that first year of college.  Picking apart songs, debating meanings, selecting favorites.  We even had "Rush Battles" wherein we would strive to pick the perfect song to follow our buddies selection.  Mind you that this was done in the age of component stereos whose volume went to 11.  It wasn't a polite, proper affair where we wrote down our selections and then revealed them with a great flourish.  Blinding our opponent with the genius of our selection.  No, it was done at maximum volume and I think my ears are still ringing…eh?  Through all of those experiences and challenging times a strong bond grew between the three of us.  We lived together in the crucible of our freshman year and continued, on and off, living together for our remaining college years.  Heck, JR. even lived on the fraternity hall with me and he wasn't a member!  But those 2 guys are lifelong friends.  As the years have gone by we don't see each other as much.  There are a lot of miles in between the days when we do sit down but we pick up more or less where we left off.

So it was with some interest that I recently took JR's call: he said "Rush is coming to town."  I initially demurred: "dude, I've seen them so many times it's just pointless."  He persevered: "it's their 40th year together and their last tour.  I'm getting everyone back together."  I relented.  "OK, I'll go to a concert put on by old dudes being watched by old dudes."  

The day of the concert dawned clear and hot.  Thankfully the sun mostly set before the concert got going.  We had, for a change, lawn seats.  We normally go in for expensive pavilion seats but I enjoyed the lawn.  Nobody drank much of anything, not even water.  Who wants to get up and pee 5 times?  It's a long way to walk and good luck finding your group.  Especially after the sun sets.

Rush takes the stage and leads off with 3 newer songs.  Everyone our age sits back down in their $5 rental chair.  "I ain't standing for this.  My back is killing me anyways."  And then they start working their way back through the catalog.  The first set ends with their massive hit "Subdivisions."  Everyone is on their feet.  Drumming along.  Air-guitaring along.  Singing along.  Even the drunk guy in front of us managed to rouse himself enough to participate.

Standing there in that sea of humanity I happened to glance up and see the moon.  I was struck by the sight.  Looking up at the sky when in a sea of humanity like a concert gives one a curious sense of isolation.  You wonder what God sees when he looks down on the assembled mass.  It reminded me that I was standing there watching the end of an era for the boys in the bad and I was participating in the end of an era for the boys from Longwood.  I glanced over at my roommates – there's a lot of grey hair there.  We're getting old.

It's an odd thing to feel so alone in a crowd of people.  I did get a little misty eyed but it didn't stop there.  Some random synapse fired and I realized that I was standing, a week early, in the very place where another era would end.  Osbourn High School would graduate her senior class – that includes my daughter – in a week's time.  On that stage right in front of me.  

Standing there, by myself in that big field, I was a bit overwhelmed.  I smiled a bit and I'd be a liar if I didn't say that a tear or two didn't roll down my cheek…and then I was thrust back into the moment……"but the Suburbs have no charms to sooth the restless dreams of youth…."