Pavlov

It is amazing what elicits a response. Maybe it is a smell that creates some Pavlovian drool. My wife wears this lotion sometimes called warm vanilla sugar. Once I was on an air plane and the lady beside me had some on. She probably thought I was a nut because that created a funny look. I can be changing channels and see a movie and it reminds me of where, when and who I originally saw that movie. Maybe it’s a taste that brings back some haunting memory. You have to love that new car smell. Whatever the catalyst, certain things can jog the memory.

Let me take you back about 27 years. It was Sunday night and a “teen night at this bar” which meant it was for 18 and under. Large crowds of teenagers would converge on this place. Of course I would hang around about 7 or 8 other guys, sitting in the corner and daring each other to talk to a girl. And there was this girl. She was gorgeous. She was also a year older than me. And she was a cheer leader at the rival high school. I can’t remember how, but somehow we knew each other.

But she was the girl that everybody loved from afar. Remember the show The Wonder Years? Well some episodes were taken directly from my life. So if I was Kevin Arnold, this girl was definitely my Winnie Cooper. Her name was Sadie DePolo. What a name. Has some kind of magical syntax to it. Say it while you read it. Sadie DePolo. See what I mean.

Any way, one Sunday night the planets must have been aligned in the correct order or God was having some fun but somehow I ended up dancing with Sadie. Now it was a fast song because she never danced slow with anyone. I don’t know the song but it was probably Rick James or the Gap Band.

After the song ended I said thanks and I turned to walk off the dance floor. And then she said those magical seven words. “Where are you going? Dance with me.” I don’t think I spoke. I am not sure I was breathing, because it was a slow song. Sadie DePolo wanted to dance with me to a slow song. The entire world stopped spinning for 3:55 seconds. My friends stood in the corner with this wide eyed, mouth opened gawk. I know I didn’t touch the floor.

For Sadie it was probably just a moment of weakness. Maybe her friends dared her to do it. But for me, every time I hear that song I think of those 3:55 seconds where I was the coolest guy on the planet and was dancing with the most beautiful girl in the world. Can you guess the name of the song? Don’t laugh! Lionel Ritchie and Diana Ross’ Endless Love!