Elton John

We saw Elton John in concert last night. Eighteenth row. On the floor. Never have I been so close to a performer. My life has new breath!

We paid way too much for these tickets! I fretted quite a bit about that. I really couldn’t imagine getting our money out of it, but a friend made the choices with my blessing and we went through with the purchase.

We left my son at his cousin’s for the night. One of his rare overnights, which actually added to the value of evening. Because he has been adamant over the years that he would not spend the night anywhere but home, we were quite surprised at his matter of fact enthusiasm. (Not as surprised though as thrilled!)

We dropped him off and finally headed for the show. We were running late. I mentioned this to my husband. He asked me why I had hung around so long at my brother’s house. I barked back that it was very much in his capabilities to have pushed me along and said “Let’s go!” (Sounds like fun already, doesn’t it?)

We got into some horrible traffic and parked in one of the farthest lots. I was ready to move, but it took a couple minutes for my husband to transition. I tapped my toe until we finally got going. I glanced at my watch. We had seven minutes and I’m kicking myself that we spent all this money and I didn’t even care enough to try to be there for the opening act. I heard him. “I forgot the binoculars.” I didn’t look back. If he was going back for them, he was going alone. We kept up our pace.

We weaved through ten thousand or more cars. I walked faster. I was focused. There was nothing in between me and the arena except not enough time. I heard my husband behind me. “Hey, this is our neighbor’s car!” I’m wondering how he could ever pick out a neighbor’s car in this huge parking lot, let alone how he could do that and keep up! We continued onward; both, apparently, in our own little worlds.

We finally arrived and were pleasantly surprised to find the entrance very close to where our seats were. Even more pleasant was the pit stop to bathrooms with no lines of anxious fans. It’s a new arena and was obviously planned well.

We hurried to our seats. It was only a couple minutes past performance time. It was another 10 minutes before the show began. Lights! Elton! Music! Music that pounded through my soul. Music that brought tears to my eyes. I wept uncontrollably through the first piece, Funeral For a Friend. My mind took it all in and then took me through 1973…1983…1993…2001. I realized that Elton has been in me for close to 30 years. That each piece of music represented a time in my life. The tears that streaked my face throughout the concert were tears of lost innocence, of the times when life looked fresh and exciting and unbeatable. He went from high school graduation to marriage to our son’s birth ‘til today. He never had a direct affect on my life, on my choices; good or bad, but he was there marking all the phases of it with his songs and the statements he made in them and the dreams he held out to me. And I wondered where those dreams were now?

My husband held onto me during the concert through some of the songs. We hadn’t touched like that in such a long time. But, Elton swept away all the intimidations, all the frustrations, all the walls we had so carefully built one brick at a time. He took our souls and sent them on a journey through our lives and left us with an incredible positive energy that sent the crowd soaring….Rocket Man!

With all the animosty and negativity wiped from our minds, the trip back to the car was as man and wife. My soul was satiated with good, powerful dreams I had shared and realized with the man I love and I was at peace.

Thank you Elton John.

Written by Teri Lee
October, 2001