The Dream

Mason City, Iowa
Monday
February 2, 1959
7:15 AM

“What’s got you so distracted this morning, Billy? You haven’t even touched your cereal.”

Billy looks away from the frosted window and says, “I had a dream last night, Mom. I was playing guitar on the stage with Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and we brought the house down. It was great!”

“You’re just excited about that concert tonight, Dear. Now eat your oatmeal before it gets cold.”

*****

Mason City, Iowa
Tuesday
February 3, 1959
6:45 AM

Billy strides into the kitchen humming a perky tune and gives his mother a peck on the cheek as she stands at the stove preparing breakfast. She glances at him and says, “You’re up bright and early this morning. How was that concert last night?”

“It was great, Mom. The Big Bopper opened up, and then Ritchie Valens really had the girls swooning when he sang ‘Donna’. When Buddy Holly took the stage, he really got the place rocking. Man, I wish I could play the guitar like that! Those riffs were just like magic.”

“You were late getting home. It must have been a long show.”

“Not really. The weather was pretty bad and had traffic tied up all the way from Clear Lake.”

“Well, here’s your breakfast,” she says as she puts the bowl of oatmeal and a glass of orange juice on the table in front of him.

*****

Mason City, Iowa
Saturday
February 7, 1959
8:00 AM

Billy strolls into the kitchen and takes a box of cereal from the cupboard and a bottle of milk from the refrigerator. As he sits down at the table, he hears the washing machine start up in the laundry and calls out, “Mornin’ Mom.”

His mother pokes her head around the corner and asks, “What are you doing up so early on a Saturday morning? You’re usually dead to the world until almost noon.”

“I have a dream, Mom. The newspapers and radio stations are all saying the music died Monday night when that plane crashed--snuffed out like a cigarette in an ashtray. Well, we can’t let that happen. Mark and Ted and I decided to start a band. They’re coming over at ten, so I’m going to clear some space in the garage where we can practice.”

She gives him a brief, quizzical look and then goes back to her work in the laundry room.

Billy Swenson finishes eating his cereal, puts the bowl in the sink, and goes out the door to pursue his dream, along with young people across the nation determined to keep the flame of rock and roll music burning.

                

In loving memory
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=D1D74KZNMes