Launch into Song

This morning when I was walking Lily we passed the locksmith's parking lot. Lily pulled me toward a man standing beside his pickup truck in the lot. "He's a handful!" he said. "No, she just wants to say hello," I replied. "I'll say hello," he said, and Lily jumped up on him. "Gentle, I'm old," he said. But he looked like he was my age. Then he started singing.

It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday. The regular crowd shuffles in. There’s an old man sitting next to me, Makin’ love to his tonic and gin. He says, son, can you play me a memory? I’m not really sure how it goes. But it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete When I wore a younger man’s clothes.

"You know the Piano Man, Billy Joel?" he asked. "Yes," I said, "thank you for singing!" "My name's Tom," he told me as he climbed into his truck. "I'm Emily, and this is Lily." I was thrilled to have a perfect stranger launch into a song because Lily jumped into his arms!