Song of the Week

Leslie was late for the first Lubbock rendezvous of our courtship so I went to the Hastings on 4th street to kill some time and bought the newest Diamond Rio CD that had been released just a few days earlier. The lead single from that CD was “Beautiful Mess”. It turned out to be one of the theme songs of my life over the next few months.

When Leslie and I were first married, before I hired out with the railroad and before we had any chilluns, I taught part-time at Amarillo College and worked nights and a few lunches a week waiting tables at a barbecue joint. One night I was waiting on a couple who told me that they ran a karaoke night at a little dive called Club 21 and that night they were having a contest with a prize of $50. Well, I love karaoke, the good, the bad, and the ugly, so I told them that if my wife was up to it I’d stop by after I got off. She was and we did. I sang “Beautiful Mess”, won fifty bucks, and afterwards was asked to sing Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle’s duet hit, “Just You and I”, with the ugly gal who got 2nd place. It was horrendous and a we great time.
Leslie and I continued to hit Club 21 on Friday nights, usually staying just long enough for me to sing one song before going to I-HOP for a late night breakfast. Those nights are among my fondest memories of year 1 of our marriage.

Here we are, almost eight years later, with four kids and plenty of messes. I still love this song and am thankful for the Beautiful Messes in my life.