To Jude

Lying in my bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you...

I love that song. Time After Time. The summer before I was a freshman in high school, my family moved to a new city in a new state. And Strictly Ballroom came out in theatres, and my mother was kind enough to take me. From that first scene, with the ballroom dancing and the interviews, I thought, "I love this movie. And my mother is not enjoying this." My mother did end up enjoying the movie (just not the beginning,) and I of course ended up loving it. To the point that it is One of my Favorite Movies of All Time. And, of course, I love the scene where Time After Time plays, and Scott takes off Fran's glasses and Scott's dad dances. (the "all girls are more attractive after you take their glasses off" post is for another time.)

One of the first CDs I was given was the Strictly Ballroom CD, courtesy of my sister. Freshman year of college, my friend Pete would sing Time After Time to me. I loved Pete, as a dear, dear friend. And that song, however it was meant at the time, took on a new meaning for me, as he went off for his Mission the following year.

And then, then there was Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion. And, in the dream ballet of every plain girl or gay boy in high school, there was the awesome dance sequence at the reunion to Time After Time. That movie means a lot to me. Mainly because some of my friends love it as much as I do, but also because, hello, I was Romy. Or Michelle.

Anyway, I love that song. That song means a lot to me. A lot of memories, a lot of happiness, of feelings of happiness. But also, that song is what my best friends mean to me. "If you're lost, you can look, and you will find me; time after time." It goes both ways. To my friends who are patient enough to last through the dry spells with me, I am always yours. "If you fall, I will catch you, I'll be waiting; time after time." I've had friends catch me in my free fall too many times to not feel that lyric deep within. And I want to be the one who catches them.

And "the drum beats out of time" belongs with one of my posts about lyrics about rhyming and how deeply they resonate with me. But that's a post for another time...

But it's a rare while when an entire song hits me where I say "Yes. I identify with this." Time After Time, stereotypical and retro as it may be, is one.

Suitcases of memories...