I have a very clear memory of my Mom’s tolerance of her
four girls’ kiss marks all over the television screen after the Beatles
performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. We were all afflicted with Beatlemania and
couldn’t get enough of them. My first 45
purchase was “She Loves You”. I’m amazed
it didn’t disintegrate we played it so much.
We would put wigs on, and use our ukuleles and badminton rackets for
guitars, and play endlessly together. We put on concerts for Mom and Dad after dinner on Saturday nights. My
ever-so-creative Mom even iced my youngest sister’s birthday cake with The Fab
Four – it was adorable.
I was love struck with George Harrison. While Paul was
clearly the favourite with the rest of them, I was mad for George. I carried
his picture in my pencil case and hoped that he would be in my dreams every
night. Looking back on that time, I realize it was probably my first sensation
of what it felt like to be in love. I want to believe that I can experience that again in this lifetime.
Roll forward almost half a century… George comes back into
my life in a number different ways… my roomie and I decide to watch Martin
Scorsese’s Living in the Material World, a documentary of George’s life.
It re-ignites an innocent, delicious, and youthful emotion. I feel alive and timeless and in love all
over again. He compiles two George Harrison CDs as a gift, acknowledging my newly-rediscovered delight.
I am chatting with a friend of mine who has an historic
collection of guitars. Every one of them
has a story and I am particularly fascinated to find out that George had played
one of them while he was living in Maui.
That guitar is now on loan to me so I can savour its
resonant tones for myself – immersing myself in the knowledge that George at one time did the exact same thing. It is not a performance guitar so I imagine that I am
strumming this beautiful instrument that he once used in more intimate
settings, which makes it all that much more personal and meaningful to me.
Okay. Confession
time. I actually placed the guitar on my
bed and slept with it beside me for a couple of nights. I vaguely recall rolling over and my arm hit
a string. The sound must have resonated through the walls of our tiny cottage
because later, my roomie asked if I had strummed just one note in the middle of
the night. I said I had accidently, but in truth, there was a strident and
intentional quality about that note that brought that first feeling of being in
love right into present time. It was as though it was meant to ring out in the night to remind me that love never goes away.
Note to self… I can have that feeling of being in love
whenever I choose. I don’t have to wait
for it to prove its existence physically.
When it does actually materialize in the form of a life
partner, and should we decide to marry, you can bet that George will be there –
or his guitar at least – and one of his love songs will be a part of the
celebration.
I’m such a hopeful romantic.
Branded by George,
Love Buns.
P.S. We can’t let
this one go by without including one of my faves… sung by George and written by
The Everly Brothers. I love this song.
