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Got a Lyft tonight. Told the driver we were heading to Forest Hills to see Van Morrison. He told us he saw Van Morrison with Them in the Village in 1966. Half a century ago! Did they play Gloria I asked? Yes, he said, and then mentioned it was the first song he had learned to play on guitar. (We found out later this guy went on to play guitar with Leslie West from Mountain. We also learned he hadn't been playing for the last year because he lost his job and was in the middle of a divorce. Ooh.) Do you think he'll play Gloria tonight I asked? Nah, I don't think he'll play that really early stuff, he said. I hope so, I said, because it was my late great friend Bill Berkson's favorite song.

Turned out Van Morrison played it afterall, for his encore, a wild and surprising 20 minute long version. The crowd sang along at the top of their tired lungs. I imagined (felt?) Bill next to me, singing along too, taking it all in with that charming and mysterious smile of his.

It felt as if I were witnessing the encore of a momentous time in history.

I have a slight fever, caught a bug this weekend from one of the kids, feeling achy and shaky, especially old, but for that encore I still got up and danced.