The Eagles have landed in Packrat

As I drove to work this morning I heard a song from the '80s that reminded me of an old crush. I used to call him my midnight man because we usually talked late at night (hey, I was a teenage girl and I'm still a night owl). He was a senior when I was a freshman in high school but I didn't really get to know him until just after I graduated.

Before I went to college (I graduated one Sunday and was at college the next Sunday) my best friend and I ended up at his house one night - one summer night when the breeze was soft and cool, the stars were glittering so brightly and seemingly so close, the moon was full, and I sat on porch steps next to a handsome young man with bedroom eyes who had long brown hair, a motorcycle, and played the guitar.

In my memories my BF tends to fade away (although I wouldn't have been there had she not prodded me) partly because all my experiences to follow with him were mine alone. I wrote poetry, and that one setting inspired many poems, although even then I knew some of them were inspired purely by that scene and not by him. In my journals I identified him as "my midnight man" or "my midnight muse".

The song that played and reminded me of him was one that he played on his guitar ("for you," he said) one night - "Desparado" by the Eagles.

He was my "bad boy" that summer, but I also had my good boy who later became the standard everyone else had to live up to. Everybody thought we were going to get married; my grandmother always said she liked him the best, and his mother introduced me as her daughter-in-law.

He was my age. At graduation we marched in in pairs and could choose our partners; he and I walked in together. He also played the guitar and had a motorcycle. (Again, I was a teenage girl, and these things, plus long hair, made me ga ga, and I can't swear that they wouldn't still.)

One sunny summer evening we waited to go on a hayride. He led me to a quiet spot, handed me sheets of music to hold for him, and said, "This is for you."

He played "Peaceful Easy Feeling" by the Eagles.

Once in college I kept my late nights on the phone. One of my cousins had been a student there for a couple of years already, and he had a group of friends (and of course I fell for one - my freshman year I had crushes on six guys at the same time) he was very close to. Neither of us (or his friends) drank or smoked, but we were high on the pure joy of living and being young; everything was funny, and we laughed long and loud. One of his friends was in his room with him, and we were listening to the same radio station when a song came on. The friend said in mock seriousness, "This is OUR song. Every time you hear it, you have to think of me."

Laughing, I swore my undying devotion. It was a joke, but the funny thing is that when I hear it, I do always think of him.

The song was "Best of My Love" - by the Eagles!

While other songs have been played for me, none have been specific dedications like those by the Eagles (with the exception of "Rainbow Connection" by Kermit the Frog - I had a bean bag Kermit in high school and my good boy learned Kermit's song for me).

I see that the Eagles are going on tour later this year. Maybe I should show up at a meet and greet and tell them, "For some reason, I'm your inspiration!"

I'm sure they'll agree - as they're talking to me in soothing tones, careful not to make any sudden moves, right before the guys with the white jackets and butterfly nets show up to claim me!