The Golden Couple

Yesterday, I was doing some touch-up painting in our bathroom while Kami and Luken took turns choosing music to play.  At one point, the Beatles’ “Help” came on, and I immediately thought of our dear, longtime neighbors, Will and Katie – who after eight (nine?!!!!) years are moving from across the street to another Portland neighborhood.

It’s not the song “Help” per se that brings this Will-and-Katie association with it – it’s any Beatles song.  A couple of years into Will and Katie’s time as neighbors, they learned that our kids had not yet been exposed to the music of the Beatles.  (The why of that is another story.)  Will in particular took it upon himself to rectify this situation.  Whenever we spent time at their house, the Beatles played in the background, Beatles trivia was shared, and in all ways the kids were converted into avid Beatles fans.  I don’t think Kami became a drummer because of Ringo, but she certainly has a fondness for him that probably contributed to that decision.  Luken went through periods of time where he listened repeatedly to Beatles albums.  We have all been brought back from the Dark Side and over to the Beatles Side.

I cannot say enough how much I like it that something as accessible and ubiquitous as Beatles songs brings Will, Katie and their family to my mind.  They have been an integral part of making this place feel like a neighborhood, and though I’ll still see them, I will miss their presence here.  When they first moved here, Garth and I referred to them between ourselves as the Golden Couple.  It wasn’t just their tow-headed children, or long-legged Katie’s flowing hair, or Will’s bright blue eyes and ready smile.  It was also their intelligence, creativity, enthusiasm and humor.  Could they be more perfect, we wondered affectionately.

Thank god they’re NOT perfect.  But I still think they’re pretty golden, and I will miss the warmth of the light they cast on Taylor St.  Luckily, there will 214 opportunities for me to turn on the radio or the computer or the CD player and – thanks to John, Paul, George and Ringo – bring some of that feeling up again.