good-bye, good friend

My first thought this morning on reading that Kenny Rogers has died was, "poor Dolly." My second thought was how grateful I am for all his music. 

Kenny Rogers was a surprising guilty pleasure for me as a teenager. I used to say I hated all country music except Kenny Rogers but it turns out he was a gate-way artist to other guitar-forward storytellers like Garth Brooks, The Dixie Chicks, and ... okay, maybe just those two. 

I discovered Kenny Rogers, beyond The Gambler, at a babysitting gig when I was 13 or 14. My beloved Shiney and her family had recently moved away, and I was missed her terribly. There wasn't a lot of other music in the house I was babysitting at, so I was working my way through Kenny Rogers and social studies when I heard this song and teared up. 

You were a good friend

I listened to it over and over again so I could write out the lyrics and send them to Shiney. In the process, I memorized every line, note and inflection. 

You were a maverick ...

We'd tell stories 'round the campfire late at night when it was down to just you and me ...

Good friend, why did you have to go,

Just when I was getting to know you?

I'll sing this song to show.

You were a good friend, 

They don't make them quite like you,

And in my memories, you'll always be, a good good friend to me. 

I'd go about my day and hum the chorus. Chetwynd was a lonely place for me as a teenager, and it helped to remember my loving friends in other towns. 

Life moves on. People grow and change. And friendships, like all relationships, flourish or wither depending on how they are tended. And nearly 40 years later, this song - even just that gentle piano intro - takes me back - to a beige sofa, a scratchy LP, and the moment Kenny Rogers bridged more than 260 miles for a lonely teenager. 

If I close my eyes, it doesn't hurt quite so bad.