The Journey Begins

The Journey Begins
After considering the impact my first encounter with Jimmy Williams, I concluded that there are times in our lives punctuated by moments of internal drama that herald the way to who we will become.

Darkness, loud music and flashing lights, the dance, beer breath, cigarettes, beautiful young women, my lack of inhibition to flail about and call it ‘dancing’ – to the ‘15 year old mind’ present fragmented images of what success might be. ‘Behavior personas’ tried on as a child models adult shoes and hats in the mirror- characterized that evening for me.

How fragile and tentative the kaleidescopic fabric of reality!

My fantasy for that evening crystallized for a moment, suspended, until the spell gave way to a higher power. In one decisive moment a young man jumped off a stage –a shooting star shearing through my new universe. Orbiting heavenly bodies veered within the sway of a new magnetic field, my vision eclipsed by the brilliance of a bright new star.

I watched the beguiling Motown moves, determined to learn.

He was a stranger in a strange little town with the attention of all, friendly and -the not so friendly, in need of an ambassador or guide in our world, just as I needed one in his. He would be my cultural guide to the ‘world of cool’.

I telephoned home. A new friend from school would be sleeping over that night.

Perhaps I had discovered that which I had never had, –a brother?

What was to unfold during the next two to three years would change my trajectory- forever.