WHEN I’M SIXTY-FOUR

I saw an article about a guy who entertains at retirement homes. Of course it catches my eye because I too rove from senior community to senior clubs shaking things up with familiar songs and sing-a-longs.

So this guy tells his airport story. The one where he sees Sir Paul McCartney in the crowd of travelers. THE Paul McCartney. This is a moment, the close-encounter-kind of moment you throw yourself at…or else you regret that you didn’t. For the rest your life.

I had a similar OMG moment many years ago when I saw my fantasy doll and secret love, Yul Brynner, picking out green beans in the canned vegetable aisle at a local grocery store. Suddenly I’m a little girl again, watching him dance Deborah Kerr across the movie screen in “The King And I.” A moment in time that is seared into my bones.

So there I stand. Frozen. Gripping the grocery cart so I won’t fall over. I can’t move. I can’t talk. Thankfully my body keeps breathing because I have forgotten how you do that. Yul Brynner squats low, snatches a can of beans from the bottom shelf, rises to his feet with the feline grace of a ballet dancer and walks away. The other way.

I’m kicking myself, still, for not saying something like “thank you, thank you Mr. Brynner for your work; it has meant the world to me…” But that same day I promise myself that if I ever have another opportunity to thank someone for their contribution to my overall well-being, I will jump on it!

So I am happy this guy in the airport grabs his brass-ring moment and thanks Sir Paul for all the great music. But the guy doesn’t stop there. He offers a “back-story” to the master songwriter, telling him that he plays for senior citizens and that they love to sing along with the Beatles’ tunes, especially “When I’m Sixty-Four.”

But…but…but…he has to change the words to “When I’m EIGHTY-FOUR.”

According to this fellow, Sir Paul laughs and says he probably should have written the song that way in the first place. Considering Mr. McCartney will turn 73 this year, you do the math.

So in the spirit of aging gracefully, I am sharing The CC Strummers’ ukulele version of “When I’m Sixty-Four” with you. This is our first Farmers’ Market gig and we have no idea what to expect. Will people sit for a while and listen? Will they throw organic tomatoes at us? We are pleasantly surprised when a crowd of mommies and daddies, little ones, grandmothers and grandfathers, Boomers, Millennials and Gen Xers gather around and applaud us through our hour-long show.

It’s all captured on this video including my irreverent comments along the way. What can I say…the comedy writes itself. CLICK HERE and enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

Hubby Craig and I hope to see some of you at The Palm Strings Ukulele Festival this weekend, Friday, February 6th to Sunday, Feb 8th, 2015 in beautiful Palm Springs, California. We are going to party in the warm desert sun! All ages welcome.