Thank You Keith Richards


I was driving south on pacific coast highway.

It was a Saturday night and

I had been rehearsing the words all day

about how I would say,

will you marry me?

I pulled off onto

the shoulder of the highway.

We could hear the ocean waves

breaking

near

our car.

I turned on the am radio

to give some romance

for possibly the most important day

In either of our lives.

It was a January day.

There were no clouds in the night’s sky.

There was a light chill

in the air.

A light chill

with a slight hint of fog in the costal southern California air.

Ruby Tuesday played on.

There’s no time to lose . . .

catch your dreams before they slip away.

Cheri, I said,

will you marry

me?

Are you sure?

We’ve only been dating  two weeks, she said.

I didn’t know what to say,

so I said,

there’s no time to lose,

let’s catch this dream before it flies away.

She laughed.

I think It’s slips not flies  away.

Right,

So, is that a yes?

Fast forward fifty years.

Cheri and I are sitting with our seven year old grandson

having Father’s Day breakfast at an outdoor cafe

called  la Caille at the foot of the Rockies.

Harry leans forward

and says he’s going to have a new sister.

Great Harry,

have your parents picked out a name?

Yes,

Ruby, he says.

Like Ruby Tuesday, he continues.

Ruby Tuesday? I exclaim.

Yes, he says.

I turned to Cheri and say,

remember that

song?

Vaguely, she says.

You know,

there’s no time to lose,

I heard her say,

catch your dreams before

they slip away.

There was a lot going on  that night, she says.

Remember, you had

to call the tow truck to get the

car pulled out of the sand.

Oh yeah,

Well, anyway,

That’s what I’ll say

to Ruby

when she’s growing up.

There’s no time to lose,

I will say,

catch your dreams before the they slip away,

dying all the time,

lose your dreams and lose your mind.

That particular lyric is true,

but too edgy for anyone.

Catch your dreams

before they slip away.

Yes, that’s what I’ll say

to Little Ruby,

Little Ruby Tuesday.

To Harry’s little sister

that’s  what I’ll say.

There’s no time to lose,

catch your dreams before they

slip away.