One of the things that people sometimes find surprising about me is that I enjoy listening to and watching old Grateful Dead shows. One of my all-time favorites is this October 31, 1980 performance of Ripple. I was watching it for about the hundredth time last week when I was struck by the images that appear from about the 1:26 mark to the 1:36 mark. In that frame we see a young couple (I’d guess their age to be mid-20’s) swaying with their arms around each other. I began to wonder about them. My wondering thoughts could be the beginning of a few writing prompts. 

Here’s what I wondered about that couple:

Did they meet that night?What were they thinking about each other?Did they continue to follow the Dead?Did they grow up together, get married, and have kids?If they had kids, did they take them to any Grateful Dead shows?Are they still alive? Were they as happy as I think they are in that scene?

Of course, you can play this “what if? what happened?” game with any picture or video clip of a couple of people. I just chose this one because it stands out to me and it gave me an excuse to write about one of my favorite Grateful songs.