By my senior year...
music had become a pretty big part of my life.
I had no idea...
one song was about to reopen a chapter
I thought had long since ended.
Every year William Chrisman put on a huge production called The Follies.
It was one of the biggest events of the school year.
Choirs.
Comedy.
Skits.
Dancers.
Soloists.
Lights.
Costumes.
A packed theater.
If you went to Chrisman...
you went to The Follies.
I'd been one of the featured soloists all four years I was there.
That part was pretty cool.
The only catch...
they usually picked the songs.
Evidently being the featured soloist didn't include voting rights.
A few weeks before opening night, the director caught me after rehearsal.
"Bill... some of the students have been asking if you'll play
My Sweet Lady."
"Sure."
"Who requested it?"
He smiled.
“That's a secret.”
So I played My Sweet Lady.
Like I had in junior high years before.
I had sung My Sweet Lady dozens of times before.
Every time I played it...
I thought of her.
I always did.
The night of The Follies was cold.
Really cold.
I had another show across town after the Follies, so before I packed up for the night, I stepped outside and started my car.
I checked the gas gauge.
Muscle cars sucked a lot of gas.
I turned the heater on full blast and waited for the windshield to clear.
I figured I had a few minutes before I needed to leave.
My guitar was still safely tucked away in the dressing room.
Acoustic guitars and freezing temperatures are not a good mix, and the Yamaki and I had history. I took good care of it.
As soon as I got the car running, I grabbed my guitar and headed to the lobby to wait for the car to warm up.
The theater was still buzzing.
Teachers stopped to congratulate the performers.
Students wandered over to talk.
A few asked me to sign their programs.
The crowd slowly began to thin.
My mind was already on the next show.
Then I heard a familiar voice from behind me…
"Bill?"
I turned around.
It was Maybe.
We'd had classes together ever since we dated.
We were partners in one of the school's vocal groups.
We still saw each other in the hallways.
We'd smile.
Say hello.
Maybe exchange a few words.
Life had gone on.
This...
was different.
For the first time since that terribly awkward day on her porch, we weren't just passing each other between classes.
We were standing still.
Just the two of us.
And before either of us knew it...
we were talking again.
She had been dating another guy.
A guitar player.
Funny how life works.
She looked at me for a long moment.
There wasn't any hesitation in her eyes.
Just hope.
Then she said...
"If I broke up with him..."
"...would you go steady with me again?"
I just stood there.
I had no idea what to do.
I had absolutely no idea what to say.
For a few seconds, the theater lobby disappeared.
I thought about the first dance.
Walking her home after school.
My birthday party.
The porch swing.
The first time we said I love you.
A hundred wonderfully ordinary moments...
that had somehow become unforgettable.
Then I looked down at the guitar in my hand.
I had another show waiting.
People were beginning to leave.
It was getting late.
The moment deserved an answer.
I just didn't have one.
I looked back at her.
Our eyes met.
The words were somewhere inside me.
I just didn't know how to say them.
Finally, I said.
“I've got to go.”
"I'm going to be late."
It wasn't really an answer.
She knew it.
And so did I.
Even now...
that breaks my heart.
I drove to my next show that night.
Played the show.
Packed up my guitar.
Went home.
Life kept moving.
Graduation came.
College.
Marriage.
Kids.
Songs.
Albums.
A lifetime happened.
But every once in a while...
I find myself thinking about that night.
I still don't know why Maybe asked me that question.
Maybe hearing My Sweet Lady stirred something she'd buried.
Maybe she was trying to find her way back...
to us.
Why then?
Why that night?
Why me?
I don't know.
And I still don't know who asked the director to have me sing that song.
Sometimes I wonder if those two moments were connected.
Maybe they were.
Maybe they weren't.
The truth is...
I'll never know.
My friend has been gone for years now.
Whatever he knew...
he took with him.
But I can still see him smiling.
I can still hear his answer.
"That's a secret."
Maybe...
some questions are Meant to Be...
just that…
A question.
And Maybe... some songs spend a lifetime trying to answer them.
