The Beat Goes On
A Precious Passing
On Sept. 1, 1979, Beatlemania the Broadway Show played at Shea’s Buffalo Theatre. It was, effectively, the first concert I went to on my own, just me and two friends dropped off and picked up by my dad. Beatlemania.
On the way out of the theatre as we walked along we shouted “Come Together!” to the stars. Such a feeling of freedom, of having my whole life ahead of me. What would happen? Anything!
The very next day, I went to the mall Spenser’s Gifts and bought this pin, which I wore on my rock and roll jean jacket, on the collar, literally until the jacket came apart at the seams and I could no longer wear it. The pin went into a box and there it’s stayed.
Until yesterday.
You see, Little Bean has a rock and rock jacket now. Last night as she sewed a The Warning patch onto it, I came over.
“I want to give you something,” I said. I told her the story. I told her how it felt to see that show with my friends. I told her that I have lots of pins and patches and they’ll all be hers if she wants them, but THIS pin was special.
“Where should it go?” she asked.
“Anywhere you want.”
She thought about it for a second then slipped it into the pocket of the jacket. “Let’s think about it more tomorrow, it has to be right”
Such a small thing, such meaning, what will stick, what will matter. I don’t know. Sometimes I feel like all I can do is just throw it all at her - all the big and the little, just let it all go, give it all up, every memory and every pin and every song, total surrender. Why else would I have it if not to pass on? Where else could it possibly continue to have meaning?
We shall see. Meantime, the beat goes on.
I feel like this all the time when I come across some piece of ephemera that I've been carrying around for decades, Dan. Sometimes I no longer see the need or reason to cling onto certain items, and other times I still feel the tug deep inside that says "not yet..."
And Eagle Scout pin, my ID cards from Freshman and senior year of high school, a token for a transit company that no longer would work. A grainy photo.
I have no idea who I would give this to, so it stays in my drawer. Waiting for the right time and the right person. Who knows if they'll ever arrive?