I’m just beginning to live
By the time you read this I’ll be in Saskatoon and my life will be changing.
Jonathan Richman is playing what will no doubt be a very, very intimate show at The Refinery this evening (Saturday October 1st, 2011). It’s going to be amazing, seeing an actual living legend performing live.
I’ve been waiting months for this show. I was prepared to drive all the way to Winnipeg to see him there before I found out a Saskatoon show had been booked. But honestly, it’s going to be a bit of a sidebar to what will be the main event of the day.
That’s me and my sweet special lady Colleen in Maui a few months ago. It was an amazing vacation and remains an incredible memory. But a vacation is just a vacation and a lifetime is a lifetime.
I don’t know where I’d be today if it wasn’t for Colleen. I met her at a very low point in my life, a bleak pocket of time that I would be happy to forget completely if it weren’t for the fact that I learned a lot of things I badly needed to learn.
I met Colleen shortly after I met Jonathan Richman. In the midst of a deep, mostly drunk depression, I was doing dishes at home one Friday night. I had CJTR on my radio and was feeling low when I heard “Everyday Clothes” come on whatever program was airing at the time. It was a revelation. I could feel again. I immediately went out and got as many of his albums as I could find.
When I met her a few weeks later Colleen was another revelation. I was introduced to her at a local bar on her birthday; she and a mutual friend were both celebrating. She was there mostly with school friends but for the most part it was like there was no one else in the picture but she and I. In my memory we spent the whole night talking only to each other, thanks in large part to her inquisitive nature. She asked me question after question after question. I was more honest and forthright than I’ve ever been with anyone after just meeting them, possibly because of her disarming nature.
Frankly, I think it had more to do with her smile. Her smile is indescribable. I told her everything she wanted to know in the simple hope that it would make her smile again. You really have to see it to believe it. I live for that smile now.
It wasn’t an easy relationship to get off the ground, for a few reasons. When she left Regina at the beginning of last summer to return to her home city of Winnipeg for a job we decided we would give it a serious go. Despite only knowing each other for a few months we both felt the connection we experienced from that first night forward was strong and unusual enough that it had to be pursued. So we did.
We drove back and forth all summer, sometimes meeting in Brandon (roughly halfway in between) for date nights. We would often drive around for hours talking and listening to Jonathan Richman’s music. Songs like “It’s You” and “I’m Just Beginning To Live” and “Important In Your Life” became ingrained in our budding affection, the perfect wistful accompaniment to our idealistic, budding love.
He’s been with us every step of the way since. When, after six months, Colleen and I decided to move in together he was there, on the stereo in the truck we borrowed to bring her possessions back to Regina. He’s been in the line-up for my community radio show on any given Thursday, a secret message to my lady love while she listens from home.
And he’ll be there today, which just happens to be the one-year anniversary of us co-habitating, the 18-month anniversary of our decision to “go steady,” and the day I’m going to ask Colleen to marry me.
I imagine her face will look something like this:
So thanks, Jonathan Richman. I’m sure we could’ve done it without you but it wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun.
Oh, and I know you don’t participate in the internet so you won’t be reading this but on the off-chance you somehow stumble onto the web and see this: I would love it if you could play “Everyday Clothes.” If you want me to weep in front of you, I mean.
FURTHER EDITOR’S NOTE — she said yes
Jonathan Richman - A Higher Power: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Jonathan Richman - When She Kisses Me: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Jonathan Richman - This Love Of Mine: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Jonathan Richman - When I Say Wife: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Jonathan Richman - It's You: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Jonathan Richman - Everyday Clothes: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadJonathan Richman’s albums are available on the internet, sort of, even though he himself “does not participate in the internet at any level.” Check Vapor Records for links to physical purchases and iTunes seems to have the lot in digital.
