{flashback}
it's the spring of 2009.
AMC and i have been on one date- his art show, breakfast & the botanic gardens.... he drove his grandpa's '66 buick deluxe (or something like that) it was dark, sea blue with small sparkles when you got up close to it. when we met in denver that day (half way for both of us) i told him i had parked on a side street and would jump in his car on the main drag.
what are you driving? i asked.
"an old blue, buick," he said.
so i thought "oh great", is he in some clunker?"
and then he came sliding up next to the curb. the windows were rolled down and there he was, my Pony Boy. he looked like he had just come from the soda shop and was playing elvis presley or something... i got in and slid all the way over to the middle seat, so our legs touched.
later, as the sun was getting lower we both knew we had to drive home to our towns, one hour away or so each and that the date was coming to an end. i don't think either of us were too keen on that and so we started to hint around that we'd like to see each other again. then, AMC said that Etta James was coming to his town in Colorado Springs and would I like to go? I said yes right away, and then said, "well, what is one of her songs?" (not that it would have mattered anyway, we were going!) But he said, "At Last."
and that was my first conscious memory of thinking, "this is the guy i will marry." though i had never been a super wedding freak, i had for so long imagined dancing to that song at my wedding.
eventhough this was big news really, i didn't make a big deal about the date to see etta james. i played it cool, and suprisingly, didn't calling every girlfriend i've ever peed with (peeing together means you are really friends) to tell. a big deal wasn't made on the outside, but i was excited on the inside. a few days before the concert, talking to my "sarey boom boom" while at the mall, she asked what i was shopping for,
"a dress for a date with this great guy," i told her.
and she said, ooh, that sound in your voice, who is this guy?
and i said, "he's taking me to see Etta James who sings, At Last."
And she said, "that's your wedding song"
and I said," I know."
And then we both kinda knew, in some which way.
on the night of the concert that weekend, i took the FREX bus down to the springs, ( i am very dedicated to public transportation- but, another time.) i left work early from The Amazing Garage Sale (an awesome mod/antique store i worked at, yet, another time) that Friday to make it to the concert when it started at 7. The plan was that we had to go straight from the bus to the concert. So, that meant that I had to be the old-fashioned girl, all dressed up, hair curled and red lipstick on-- with a suitcase--riding the bus. I felt like I was in the 20's, which the style of my dress helped along, it was white with small red and turquoise flowers. I always like 20's style because they emphasize the hips... anywhow, there was AMC, waiting for me in his blue buick deluxe and we cruised in the April evening air to the concert.
AMC was all dressed up, in his slightly rugged kind of way, i definitely liked him. we had a few moments before the concert began to have a glass of wine (me) beer (him) in the open air lobby. i'm sure i fidgeted the whole time, but he listened, which i always notice about him, he really listens, so, maybe he didn't see the fidgets or something. we took our seats and the show began. out came a petite little etta james body, with a whole lotta etta james SPUNK. she had a band behind her, a black stool, skinny mic stand and a side table where she kept her red wine, which she drank out of a straw. she slinked around stage entrancing us for hours, groping herself as she sang, "you can leave your hat on." she was so free up there. her velvety voice was drinkable. her openness made you feel like you could knock on her door and go lay on her couch. she would let you in, offer you wine with a straw, listen to you for a little while, then tell you her starry life, the whole of it- the ups, downs and trapeze acts.
some days i listen to npr, they are my favorite news source. other days, like today, the window is open, and the city streets are my music, my connection. today, facebook was my news source, letting me know that etta james has passed away. and this tiny post is to say thank you etta, for singing the song, At Last with such preciseness of feeling, that it caught on... making it's way over the years to my heart as the symbol of a wedding song, helping signal to me when i'd found my marriage partner.
etta you've taught me that it just goes to show,
sing your song. whatever it is, be free, do it, and love it, because you never know what it could mean to someone. thank you etta for singing your song, for being free up there and showing us all how to do it too.
