Remembering

A quote from the television show 'The Wonder Years'...

Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose. 

Good morning to all. I feel good today. Last night I had a restful sleep and am sitting here now raring to go. I love these nights when the pain doesn't come. Yesterday I chose to stay home and spent the entire day in my jammies. With practice for the fashion show tomorrow, I will be staying late at the Center both today and tomorrow so I figured I would spend yesterday accomplishing what needed to be done.  The rain helped me make up my mindI lounged around until about 10 am and then sliced all the ingredients for  my sofrito. That can be quite a chore, but once done, I don't have to chop for a month. 

Last night I heard on the news that Roseland closed its doors for the last time.  It was the end of an era; another part of my past that has fallen by the wayside.  Truth be told, I'd not even thought of the place in a good many years.  I came of age and moved to the city during the transition from the hippies to the yuppies.  Discos were just beginning to make their mark, but I chose to frequent those clubs of Greenwich Village that had not outgrown the hippie era.  In fact, as I look back now, I  am one of those rare New Yorkers who never attended a disco during that era.  They were never my style. I liked folk music and coffee houses, places like the Bitter End, Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie, and Joan Baez. 

The closest I ever came to a disco was Roseland, and it wasn't exactly a disco when I was there.  I only attended a few times with friends who liked checking it out once in awhile, and I never did stay very long.  Like I said, it was not really my type of place but I sure did  love their celery tonic, and sometimes I would tag along just for the opportunity to get.  It wasn't until much later that I discovered I could buy the celery tonic in a store  and fix a nice ice-filled glass for myself. 

So why, you may be asking, if Roseland never 'really' was your thing, why did its closing bother you so much?  I guess that is because it is a part of my history; albeit a small part, but a part of my personal history nonetheless. One of the friends I used to go with died many years ago, another disappeared and was never heard from again. As far as the others, we just seem to drift apart. To be honest, I never much cared.  Time and life were moving on, and  I would soon move into mainstream society.

My carefree lifestyle was about to end. Times were changing. I'd soon give up my bartending job in exchange for a rather sedate position as an answering service operator, my first real legit job in New York. It was around this time that I also gave up my room at the infamous Hotel Earle (now known as the Washington Square Hotel) and moved to a small apartment in Queens.  Yes, times definitely were changing.

Gone was the night life I had grown to love; gone were those walks through Washington Square Park at 4 am.  Those were safer times.  One could go out and walk in the wee hours of the morning and not be afraid of being raped or mugged.  The marijuana dealers were always there, but back then they were a harmless lot, unlike the drug dealers of today.  It was so safe back then that the park never closed. And, as I lived right across the street, I learned quickly that it hosted two different cultures--the night people and the day people. I got to them both, but the night was my time. Many a night myself and my friends sat around the circle and watched the sun as it rose. (Sigh)

Once I left it would be years before I returned to the park.  I'd married, had two sons, and spent 15 years in a loveless marriage.  I remember clearly.  I'd separated from my husband and took a walk to the park on my lunch hour. I couldn't help but notice how it had changed...or perhaps it was me who had changed.  It seemed to me that it was much quieter than I remembered, but perhaps that was because I was older and no longer felt the need to be in the midst of things. I was content to sit on a bench and read a book.

And that was how we met.  I know I have told this story before so I won't get into details.  "Would you mind if I sat next to you?" he asked.  A simple request from the man who became the love of my life.  It will be 22 years for us in June.  

Ah, they were great times for sure, but I wouldn't want to go back and relive them.  I am content with my life now, and I will always have my memories.  Yes, the times did change. The hippies are long gone.  One rarely hears about folk music anymore. The old fashioned coffee houses with the sawdust on the floor and are a thing of the past. I think the following Bob Dylan song, one of my favorites says it all...

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon

For the wheel's still in spin

And there's no tellin' who

That it's namin'

For the loser now

Will be later to win

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside

And it is ragin'

It'll soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize

What you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road is

Rapidly agin'

Please get out of the new one

If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is

Rapidly fadin'

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'.