longer

when i was a sophomore in high school, i received for christmas an alarm clock radio, among other things. on the first morning of school after christmas break, the alarm went off to dan fogelberg's "longer". it was the first time i had heard the song and my first thought was: welcome to the world of knowing about the music the rest of the world (i.e. my classmates) are listening to, ya giant dork. my next thought was: wow, excellent song. and so, longer than there've been fishes in the ocean, that song will have a special place in my heart.

that clock radio saw me thru the remaining years of high school and on through college. 8 o'clock classes were no match for my trusty alarm. i got a radio station sticker from somewhere and damned if i know where i got it or, at this point, what station it was. i stuck that sticker and a small red heart on him, and that was it, that was enough. he's cute but not fancy. 

he rolled on & on for many years after college, but time passed and his volume & tuner got glitchy and we'd wake to blaring or static or blaring static. a crew originally from honduras painted our house one summer and they asked if they could have him. ah, sure. what the heck. go, fly, and be free! 

i miss him, but i like to imagine he's raucously blaring static-infused tejana on demand, ad infinitum... longer than...

Longer by Dan Fogelberg. https://www.shazam.com/track/5586628/longer