Mondays with Mike: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

The whole thing started months ago by a lucky accident. Our friend Steven bought a pair of tickets to one of Elton John’s farewell concert tour stops in Indianapolis as a gift to his partner Nancy—the two of them would celebrate their anniversary at the concert. Then about a week later, he forgot he bought the tickets. So he bought another pair.

Nancy takes her Elton concerts seriously.

That little mistake hatched a great plan.

Steven gave us the extra two tickets! The concert was not a surprise, Nancy knew they were going. But she didn’t know that Beth and I would show up at dinner before the show and the four of us would see Sir Elton together.

Steven and I and Beth had been careful about communicating—loose texts sink ships, after all. No slips of the tongue when we saw each other the past few months. Pretty amazing none of us let the cat out of the bag.

Finally, the date came this past Saturday. I showed up at a downtown car rental location to pick up our mid-size rental car and drove off with…a so-called minivan that seemed the size of a cruise ship. Whitney didn’t know what to make of it and took a long time settling in the vast expanse. (Also, is it a rule that all non-airport rental car locations have to look like the Unabomber’s quarters?)

After a three-hour+ drive through torrential rain and wind, we arrived at our Courtyard by Marriott. Which was connected to a Homewood Suites and a W. It was Marriott-land. Steven and Nancy were staying at one of the other hotels, but we avoided any accidental meetings.

Beth and I went downstairs to stretch our legs, and I left my phone in the room to charge.

It wasn’t until we were getting ready to order a ride that I noticed texts and voicemails from Steven. All I gleaned from the text was that the news was not good.

Well, we made it to our rendezvous at the restaurant. But by the time we did, the the jig was up on the surprise. That’s because Elton John got sick and canceled late in the afternoon. When that happened, Nancy started exploring other things they could do in Indianapolis for the evening, so Steven ultimately had to come clean and tell her that they had to keep the dinner date…with us.

Ah, the best laid plans. The concert plans might have been star crossed, but we had a fantastic time. We’re all, um, mature enough to take things like this in stride, and in a funny way, somehow, the whole occasion seemed even more special. It was great to toast to them, conversation was great as always, and the meal was scrumptious. After dinner we went our separate ways.

Back at our hotel, Beth and I stopped for a nightcap and to watch the World Series. Well, one thing led to another and we learned the young man who I started talking baseball with was from…Chicago. A White Sox fan. He’d driven with his parents (who’d come up from Florida) and his wife to see…Elton John. From there it was strangers on a train, we learned more about each other in about 15 minutes than seemed possible. Along the way, another couple got pulled into conversation. Well, they’d come from Cincinnati to see…Elton John. And then we were off: She’s from Oregon, that’s where they met (he was a military brat). And they’d lived all over and…well….

We had a blast. Sometimes thinks don’t turn out the way you planned. And sometimes, that’s just fine.