Full Circle Moments

Pardon me while I wax philosophical on this Friday afternoon, but even I need a break from politics once in awhile. I was thinking about how funny life is sometimes when we find ourselves back in the same location but under circumstances that you probably could not have foreseen on your first visit. I coined the phrase "full circle moments" to describe this phenomenon. In my case they seem to involve performing. I have three examples.

In 1973 I was looking at the Saturday newspaper and saw an ad announcing that The Blackwood Brothers Quartet was going to be singing the next day at Knott's Berry Farm in the John Wayne Theater. I had become a fan of gospel quartets thanks to the records my dad brought home from concert, but I had never seen a professional group in a live performance. The Blackwoods were a legendary name in the business and I just had to go.

I told my dad about the performance and on Sunday we headed over to Knott's. This was back in the days before you had to pay to get in (you had to pay for rides but not admission), and in my excitement to see the group I think we got to the theater ridiculously early and stood for a long time as the only ones in line.

I watched the performance and was firmly hooked on quartet music forever. At the time I was not a member of a group, though my dad was singing bass for The Watchmen. I would join The Watchmen as bass player in 1974.

Flash forward to 1988. I had been in The Watchmen for 14 years and had taken over the bass singing duties when my dad retired from the group in 1983. We were singing about 60+ dates a year around the West Coast and in March were invited to sing for the annual meeting of the Nazarene Credit Union. Here comes the full circle moment - the performance would be in the John Wayne Theater at Knott's Berry Farm.

That night I got to stand on the same stage and perform with a quartet where I had seen The Blackwoods 15 years before and I've got to tell you, it was pretty cool.

A second example: In 1976, right after the Bicentennial, I was part of a church choir tour that took us to New York City, Atlantic City, and Washington D.C. We had a great time and had the opportunity to perform in each city, including performances in Rockefeller Center and the Pentagon.

In June of 2007 I found myself in New York City once again. This time I was traveling with my daughter's high school orchestra as she performed at Carnegie Hall and the Trump Tower. As I sat in Carnegie Hall watching their performance I couldn't help but think back to that 1976 trip and how cool it was to be back in New York under these circumstances. In my wildest imagination I probably couldn't have dreamed up watching my daughter play at Carnegie Hall.

A full circle moment.

Finally, another example occurred just yesterday. In 1983, just a few weeks after taking over the bass singing spot with The Watchmen, the group was booked to sing for Nazarene Night at Disneyland. That night, as the rain poured down and the wind blew, we did two stands at the Carnation Plaza Stage near Sleeping Beauty's Castle. It was freezing cold and at times the rain was blowing in under the canopy that covered the audience, but it was fun. To this day I can't walk by that stage without thinking of that night.

My son recently joined the Hawthorne Gold Drum & Bugle Corps and they had their first performance yesterday...on the Carnation Plaza Stage at Disneyland. I didn't get to go see him, but I thought it was kind of neat that he played the same stage I did 26 years ago. Another full circle moment.

You may think of some of your own, and you're welcome to write about them in the comment section.