Lula’s kid

Long ago, when “couch surfing at 70” was still a thing, I offered a post about how grateful I was to live in a world that included Stevie Wonder. Yesterday I heard The Beach Boys cover of “I Was Made to Love Her,” and was instantly filled with all those big, grateful, joyful feelings again.

Stevie’s mom, Lula Mae Hardaway, was one of the writers of ‘Made to Love Her.’ How totally cool is that! I had a flash of sitting at the kitchen table back in Wareham, MA with my mom, Irene, both of us with typewriters, banging out words and music filled with back-then soul, maybe to be recorded by Martha and The Vandellas. Or The Pet Shop Boys. Like, totally, oh my head!!

‘Made to Love Her’ flew all the way to number two on the Billboard charts – which I’d rather be reading a lot more than the DSM-IV any day. The number one song blocking its path? – “Light My Fire” by The Doors. All of this when I was in high school.

I’ll tell you, my memories can be so far out. Even the ones that never happened.