nowadays you can't be too sentimental*

Seven years ago, this week, I met this adorable man (perhaps he was more boy back then). One of his many endearing traits, was his lack of interest in what other people thought. He seemed impervious to peer pressure, whether it be regarding parties, alcohol, clothing or music. At 20, this was remarkable to me. Finally, here was someone that was uninterested in popularity and what I'd already termed- "college drama." This isn't to say, of course, that we didn't have our struggles. We were always crazy about each other, but there were many moments where he gave away his thoughts that he didn't want a girlfriend, and I refused to bend on my expectations. Even now, there are songs that immediately take me back to late nights of long cries to my girlfriends and dancing around our dorm room swearing off of boys forever.

It seemed fitting then, that last night we danced together in the aisles at the Billy Joel concert at the Boston Garden. Josh has always loved Billy Joel, and it was this revelation early in our relationship that used to make me laugh. He'd rock out in his car to "Movin' Out" when he drove to pick me up from campus, he'd play "She's Always a Woman" while we danced in his apartment. There was never a sense that he cared whether people thought his love of Billy Joel was "cool" or not. He just did.

The concert was so much fun, and the audience sang along with most of his songs. I even took notes during the concert so that I could better list what songs he played:

Angry Young Man (in tribute to APL, I accidentally said to Josh, "yay! Angry Boy!")
My Life
Everybody Loves You Now
Seeing the Lights Go Down On Broadway
New York State of Mind (which he said he sang on a dare, because it was in Boston)
Stiletto
Zanzibar
Allentown
Downeaster Alexa
All For Leyna
Pressure
Goodnight Saigon
Movin' Out
Innocent Man
Keeping the Faith
Always a Woman To Me
River of Dreams (my favorite! And this one got everyone up and dancing)
I Go To Extremes
We Didn't Start the Fire
Big Shot (he was hysterical dancing around on the stage for this one)
Still Rock and Roll To Me

Encore:
You May Be Right
Only the Good Die Young
Scenes From An Italian Restaurant
Piano Man

I kept glancing over at Josh while he rocked in his seat and sang along loud enough that I had to shush him a couple of times, and marveling at the way things change. As Josh pulled me to my feet for some of the tunes, or threaded his fingers through mine during the slow songs, I wondered how I could have so much sweetness in my life. How can it get any better than this?

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* points if you know what song this is from