Close To You

Over Christmas break this exchange occurred.

Me: What are you doing the next couple of days?
Jenny: Oh, you know, just hanging out with my best friend Audrey!

yessssssssssssssssssssssssss.

I didn't get to see that Jenn girl until like 11pm on my last night in St. George. I went to her house and we chatted or a couple hours. Did a lot of reminiscing about high school. She had happened to recently find her old yearbooks and we read all our notes to each other--and the ones from Moe. And it was just the best. <3 p="p">
And then the other day, I was up in the conservation lab at work and they had music playing. And a magic song came on-- "Close To You" by The Carpenters. I recognized it and was instantly taken back to my sophomore year of high school....

Jenn had a little, rickety old car that her brother had procured from a coworker at Frostop, the local fast-food drive-in (home to delicious piccadilly chips and crushed raspberry glaciers), for a mere TWENTY FIVE CENTS. She drove that car for, what, 3 years?

We named it Sir Walter Raleigh, after the real Sir Walter who had a rumored affair with Queen Elizabeth. Obviously a gentleman, and a ladies man. And a Seadog, of course.

Sir Walter had his problems. He liked to stall at intersections. And one time he wouldn't start at all, so Jenny had us push him down a hill (while she was in the driver's seat, of course), and like magic, he roared to life. And when he was struggling, we would pat the dash lovingly and coo, "you can do it Sir Walter!"

If I remember correctly, Sir Walter had an outstanding cassette tape player. And the only tape in the car was a compilation of songs by The Carpenters.  It's funny, though, because the only song I ever remember listening to on that tape was "Close To You." I think we re-wound it and played it over and over and we sang really loud.

And so, standing at the counter in the conservation lab, organizing photographs from somebody's mission to the DR, I smiled and wished I was 15 years old with my Moe and my Jen, giggling and singing in Sir Walter Raleigh.

The End.