I spend a lot of time listening to the Classic Country channel on my TV.
Some of the songs they play surely tug on my heart as memories haunt.
Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy more than any other.
It always produces a tear... or a stream of them these days.
As a 10 year-old in 1975 this song was immensely popular.
My father and I were driving cross country and we broke down along the way.
It was a ghost town and we were stuck there for days until the part arrived.
We slept in the car at the service station.
I spent those days wandering around the desert lost in daydreams.
I wanted fame. And I wanted magical powers.
Magical powers would have come in handy right about then, actually.
But more than anything I wanted be best friends with Olivia Newton-John.
I fantasized about all the fun stuff Livvie and I would get up to.
The concert tours. The duets. The awards shows. The Malibu living.
We were ridiculously happy together.
A few years ago I had the opportunity to tell all this when I met her...
Anyway.
Now when I hear Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy it means even more.
You see, he recently disclosed that he is living with Alzheimer's Decease.
Like my father.
I really wish I had those magical powers more than anything right now.
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