______ ________ is coming to town

it's not santa claus. think bigger. santa may bring gifts to good boys and girls, but this guy writes the songs that make the whole world sing.

barry manilow is coming to town. BARRY MANILOW IS COMING TO TOWN! after years of scheming of how i could get myself to vegas to see him, he is coming to ME. yes, i know his songs are as sappy as syrup. and i am aware that the man is 'durn near 100 years old. but this is barry manilow we are talking about. he is legend.

it's not just that i sang his songs as a little girl. barry (yes, we are on a first name basis) has a special place in our family. when we were first married and i moved away from everything i knew to a dumpy little apartment, i found an old barry manilow cd at the local library. once a week on my day off, bill would come home not knowing if he would find me curled up in the fetal position or belting out a barry song with gusto. 'cause you can go either way with barry's songs, ya know?

bill took me to a concert in indianopolis in the late 90's. barry hadn't had a hit in many years, but no matter. the place was packed with wrinkly groupies. even gray haired men had t-shirts with barry's face on them. okay, it was a little weird. but i loved every minute of it. in the middle of the concert when bill was singing his heart out to copa cabana i pointed my finger at him and said "you better not be mocking this!". he assured me that he was truly feelin' it and i fell in love all over again (with bill, that is, not barry).

someday when emma and bill have their dance on her wedding day, i have no doubt it will be to "i can't smile without you" by, you guessed it, barry manilow. he has been singing that to her since she was a little baby. they have shared many a dance 'round the kitchen floor to that song...

so "barry mellow", as emma used to call him, coming to town is something worth jumping about...

jump, shout, boogie to be exact.