Olivia Newton John "Xanadu" (1980)
Xanadu
The year 1980 lasted about four years for me--or at least it seems that way when I look back to that time. What a roller coaster I was on! The highs, the lows, outstanding times, depths of despair, and interminable stretches of waiting for something to happen. But looking back having survived that year, it was a time I'd never give up.
Let's see--during that year I worked for four different employers and lived in five different places. I separated from my first wife and saw her move in with some guy whom I have no idea how exactly he came into the picture. A few months later I met the woman who seemed to be my absolute soulmate and who became my wife for ten years.
For the first six months of 1980 I was in my lowest of lows and then about the time Olivia Newton-John's "Xanadu" hit the airwaves I was feeling like I was in my own Xanadu of sorts. Oh, my finances were not all that great and my living was not very luxurious by any means, but a burgeoning new love made up for all that. And we were young, crazy and highly adaptable.
My new love had worked at the marketing research company where I had come back to work after returning to Richmond so I could be closer to my son. I had tried to get by in Tennessee working as a driver for an airport shuttle service, but by May when I had enough saved up to move up to Richmond, I high-tailed it up there. I ached to be able to see my boy and thought maybe I could win my wife back.
Seeing my son was in the stars. Getting back with my wife was not. However this new lady won me over in a big way. She was a college student at Virginia Commonwealth University who was intellectual and seemed more mature than my first wife even though they were about the same age. I was lonely and this vibrant lady with whom I could converse and share experiences was like starting my life over.
Offers came in from some of my show business contacts for week stretches in exciting booking engagements. My new girlfriend and I took the show gigs as a team. Our jobs at the marketing research company were very flexible so we were able to sign up only for hours we wanted to work. If we wanted to leave for a week that was just fine. We were always able to come back there to work and since we were both very good at what we did, our names were high on the list in the event that too many were wanting to work. Also, my new companion was off from school for the summer so she was free to go as she wished.
We had it made as far as adventure and fun. It was like a poor man's Xanadu. They were good times and a preview of the decade we had ahead of us.
Did you take advantage of travel opportunities when you were younger? Did you ever experience a love on the rebound? What are some of the jobs you had before you established yourself in your primary career?
