Throwback Thursday - Two of Us

This was originally posted exactly 3 years ago on my Tumbr on July 30th, 2012. It's now been 15 years and it's now Four of Us, but the journey continues. 

The Fab Four

Two Of Us - The Journey

Is there anything The Beatles can’t teach us? I could literally pick any random song of theirs and write a post on it that would be long and meaningful, both musically and emotionally. But when I first started the music blog, over a year ago, I knew I’d be writing this post. I was just waiting for the right time and, honestly, the courage to let my guard down enough to write it and put it out there.

I’m currently sitting in a hospital with my mom. I won’t get into details, she’s doing much better. I mention this for context only, because around 10 pm last night, while I was sitting here with my mom, alone, hating being an only child, my wife texted me “oh shit, Happy Anniversary.” We both forgot that 12 years ago yesterday was the day we got married. We’re not the type to make a thing out of it. Anyway, that made me think it was time for this post, which I guess is the biggest deal I’ve ever made out of our anniversary. 

The Beatles’ "Two Of Us" could be about a marriage beginning (Paul and Linda) or a divorce (Paul and John), but to me, it’s much more specifically about me and my wife and our travels through the world, through our lives, through time itself. I first realized this a few years back, the first time I had to travel for work alone. It was the first time we would be apart for any period of time, and one day, while driving, I heard the song and got all choked up. We had traveled a lot in the time we’d been together, and regardless of where we went, it has always been our time. This trip wouldn’t be the two of us, Sunday driving. It would just be me, missing the harmony that makes the song so beautiful.

The fact that the song is a metaphorical travelogue of past adventures, makes it easy for this to make one nostalgic. The specifics of those journeys in the song don’t matter. For me, it’s about making those memories that are longer than the road that stretches out ahead, and while that line might imply an ending, it also implies a depth and a bond that is stronger than anything you might encounter going forward. To me, it’s about how my wife and I, through the good and bad we’ve been through together, will always be on our way home, together. And now that there’s three of us and soon to be four, we include our children in that journey, but at the core, it’ll always be the two of us, partners, co-conspirators, burning matches and lifting latches, and always going home.

It’s easy, funny, and often true to complain and joke about our wives, our marriages, but in the end, at least for me, our compatibility, our love, our sense of humor, our shared joys and pains, our constantly deepening bond, is exactly what this song makes me think of, appreciate and get emotional about. I don’t always, or ever, say any of these things, because I think living it is more important than saying it, but now its here written down, for the world to see. Happy!!?