…turning 30 in five days, i remember half-a-decade ago, standing before this fountain with my closest friends, saturated with three days’ worth of $2 margaritas and Pepto Bismol (hit communally from the bottle between cocktails), watching this show with this song by accident as we walked to our airport shuttle about to be swept to our different parts of the country; mine was texas.  what began as silly, ironic laughter — “why the fuck are they playing celine dion!?” — turned for me into a shaking voice, watery eyes, and then, yes, hysterical tears.  there i stood weeping openly, bellowing with sobs, and laughing, trying to find some meaning in the meltdown as my friends watched with frozen grins and incredulous eyes.

maybe my body was short-circuiting on cheap alcohol and lack of sleep.  maybe i was just sad that we were all about to say goodbye.  or maybe — and this is probably the answer closest to the truth — it’s just a really great song.