One of the things that people sometimes find surprising about me is that I enjoy listening to and watching old Grateful Dead shows. One of my all-time favorites is this October 31, 1980 performance of Ripple. I was watching it for about the hundredth time last week when I was struck by the images that appear from about the 1:26 mark to the 1:36 mark. In that frame we see a young couple (I’d guess their age to be mid-20’s) swaying with their arms around each other. I began to wonder about them. My wondering thoughts could be the beginning of a few writing prompts.
Here’s what I wondered about that couple:
- Did they meet that night?
- What were they thinking about each other?
- Did they continue to follow the Dead?
- Did they grow up together, get married, and have kids?
- If they had kids, did they take them to any Grateful Dead shows?
- Are they still alive?
- Were they as happy as I think they are in that scene?
Of course, you can play this “what if? what happened?” game with any picture or video clip of a couple of people. I just chose this one because it stands out to me and it gave me an excuse to write about one of my favorite Grateful songs.
