Some people may wonder: Is true love at first sight just a romantic fantasy? Or does it really happen? When I was 13, such thoughts had not yet occurred to me. I was old enough to start noticing girls, but the concept of true love, especially at first sight, was still abstract. That was about to change.
My main love at the time was music. I played keyboards in bands with my classmates and dreamed of becoming a rock star. I liked the music of bands like Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Yes, but my older sister and I were also big fans of Elton John. When we heard he was coming to town, we begged my mother to take us along. As always, she agreed to load me, my sister, and a bunch of my sister’s teenage friends into the car.
One of those friends invited her younger sister, Susan, to come along. Being the two youngest in the car, Susan and I moved to the “back seat” of our Ford Country Squire station wagon.
Sitting across from her in those tiny fold-down back seats, I felt something I’d never felt before. She was tall and attractive, with long brown hair cut straight over bright brown eyes. She laughed with a dimpled smile and was easy to talk to. I was instantly smitten and almost forgot why we’d driven from the San Fernando Valley to Inglewood. Could this be true love?
Once inside the Fabulous Forum, I made sure to get a seat next to her. Elton was great, too, although my mind was admittedly wandering most of the time. I’m sure I spent most of the show looking at her rather than the stage. She sang along to Benny and the Jets and Crocodile Rock, and I wondered: Is she feeling the same way I am? Did she have the same spark? Or was she put off by my braces, glasses, or lack of height? Those questions would have to wait—Elton was the center of her attention that night.
Back at Portola Junior High School in Tarzana, I took every opportunity to run into her. She was in the grade below me, so I had to scour the courtyard during lunch and between classes and then come up with excuses to talk. A safe excuse was to discuss something new with Elton. I once surprised her with Elton John’s new album the day it came out. Sometimes I would come up with an excuse to call her, and we would have long conversations until one of us was instructed by a sibling to stop holding the line.
During these encounters, my feelings for her continued to grow. She was smart, witty, and kind, and she shared my love of music. Could anyone be more perfect for me?
I soon worked up the courage to tell her I loved her. I went to her house, and she listened patiently while I told her how I felt and expressed confidence that we would get married someday. Susan sat silently and listened, and then kindly explained that she didn’t feel the same way. She said she hoped we could remain friends. Naturally, I was crushed, but somehow I figured it was just a temporary setback.
Over the next few years, we stayed in touch, though less frequently. I continued to play in various bands, and she became a star in the school choir. We shared experiences during long phone conversations. When I turned 16, my family moved south to Westchester, near Los Angeles International Airport, and hers moved north to Westlake Village. The extra distance didn’t completely destroy my hopes, but it certainly made the likelihood of our paths crossing that much less likely. But as luck would have it, that summer Susan and her sister stopped by to visit me when they happened to be in the area.
When she got out of the car, I immediately had the same feeling I had three years earlier. Could this time be different? I had the advantage of no braces. Contacts had replaced my glasses, plus the height advantage was mine. So she casually suggested that we could go out sometime. I made sure that “sometime” came as soon as possible.
Our first real date was ice skating at Topanga Plaza, followed by dinner at Carl’s Jr. She was still easy to talk to, and still the love of my life. But she had a mischievous side. Before the date, she told me she wasn’t very good at skating, but then she grinned and skated around me with the grace of an Olympian. It was the first of many examples of how Susan was never to be underestimated.
We ended the evening with our first kiss, which I had been dreaming about since that first concert. It was worth the wait, and we have been inseparable ever since.
