I first fell in love with Mick Jagger 49 years ago.
Ahhhh Mick! We could have had a fairy tale romance. But there were a few obstacles that stood in the way of our relationship.
Obstacle N0. 1: Mick didn't know I was alive.
This was primarily due to the fact that I lived on a different continent. I'm quite sure I could have drawn attention to myself and provided Sir Jagger with an excellent reason to look my way; namely my incredible ability to impersonate him. (See comparison photos below.) I always felt sure that our paths would someday cross and that Problem N0. 1 would cease to exist.
Obstacle N0. 2: My mom would have NEVER given me permission to date Mick. However, she did allow me to date a twenty year old Mick Jagger lookalike when I turned 17. Therefore I always assumed that she would soften her views towards Mick over time and that when we finally met she would give her blessing.
Obstacle N0. 3: AGE.
Sadly, this third problem seemed insurmountable. Mick was 16 years older than me. I was a three-year-old and still making mud pies when the Rolling Stones formed. I was still in grade school and Mick was twenty-six and doing grown-up things like fronting the undisputed Greatest Rock-n-Roll Band in the World and dating women like Marianne Faithfull—pretty stiff competition for any ten year old.
By the time I had discovered and fallen headlong in love with Mick at the age of fourteen, he was already married to the style icon/activist and Nicaraguan beauty, Bianca Pérez-Mora Macias. It was bad timing to be sure.
Yes, my insurmountable problem was . . .
I WAS JUST TOO YOUNG FOR MICK JAGGER.
Many years have passed since those days of rock star heartache. And then, all of a sudden, I saw Mick again in Washington, DC at the Stones' 50 + Counting concert. (He didn't see me because I was sitting in the cheap seats waaaaaaay up in the peanut gallery with my BFF, Sheila.)
At some point during the concert, Mick reminisced for a moment.
“We first came here in 1965. Lady Bird Johnson was the first lady, she always came to our shows.”
Lady Bird Johnson? Suddenly it really dawned on me that Mick was like . . . old!
And yet . . .
Today is Mick Jagger's 80th birthday.
He is still touring and recording albums.
He is incredibly energetic onstage.
He does aerial yoga!
He is still dating gorgeous women. (His recent love interest is a ballerina who is the same age as my twin sons.)
And, despite being a great-grandfather, he's father to a young child (with said ballerina).
Today, as I took note of Sir Jagger's birthday and marveled at his incredible ability to "Stay Young", I had a bit of an epiphany.
Though I am still sixteen years younger than Mick . . .
I AM WAY TOO OLD FOR MICK JAGGER!
Ah irony! Thy name is Jagger!
(There you go again Mick . . . Making the rest of us look & feel old. Thanks for that!)
** 1969 Photo of Mick Jagger from Pinterest.
I cannot find the associated photographer's name, so please contact me if you know who to credit. Thanks.
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