"I Am Always Remembering..."

I was reminded this morning of the first time I heard this cover of Bob Dylan's "Just Like A Woman" by the incomparable Nina Simone. I was driving home from work late one night and I was so moved by this song and her performance that as I drove through the dark streets awash in a spring rain shower, I had to pull off the road to listen. And as the windshield wipers kept a cadence with the song, I realized it was raining inside the car as well... Tears were streaming from my eyes as I listened and reflected on how alone in the world I was and of how this song described a remembrance of love I had only ever dreamed of. It's been some twenty years ago now. At the time, I was still denying my truth. And that night, I was reminded that I had been living a loveless lie for my entire life.

The strange thing is that at the time I first heard this song, I thought I understood it. It was like Nina was singing it for me. But truthfully, it would be another few years until I really knew what this song's melancholy was all about. I had somehow found the courage to live my truth... Then came love, and also loss... And when I next heard this song, I realized that for me, it would always be about the beloved one. As it turned out, it was about he and I that first time I heard it in the car and it was about him this morning when I listened again for perhaps the 100th time.

I am always remembering...