I first met Betsy Ahearn when she auditioned for The Fifth of July which I was directing for Centre Stage in the Bronx. She was very pretty and vivacious but it was her talent that blew me away. I quickly developed a crush on her (I was twice her age, it was kinda silly) which she didn’t reciprocate at all, but she enjoyed my company enough that we hung out a fair amount for awhile, going to shows both locally and in the city. This song is unfair to her insofar as she never flirted with me or in any way led me to believe she was interested in me. But the song worked better with that element so that’s what I wrote. She was known for her predilection for blueberry muffins and tea. I’m reasonably certain I never played this song for her. But on the somewhat infrequent occasions when I perform, I always include this song and it is always the tune people best remember. I think it’s my finest song. Betsy is on the top of my list of people I hope to see once more before I die.

I met Rita Crosby at a Christmas party in Chappaqua (not sure why I was there).  At the time I was more interested in connecting with the Chappaqua Drama Group than with a woman, but both happened. Rita and I talked quite a bit that night and she invited me for lunch the following day. When I showed up (she did let me inside and she fed me) her receptivity to romance had significantly altered (I later found out her ex-boyfriend had asked her back, maybe because he saw me chatting her up at the party).  And it wasn’t raining.  I later directed a show for CDG, cast her, and during the rehearsals she let me know she was available and interested. That show went on to win numerous awards at a couple of festivals and definitely changed my life. My relationship with the beautiful, incredibly talented Rita, lasted about two years and probably didn’t change my life all that much. But I love this song, one of the last I ever wrote, when I had finally gotten it as a songwriter. And like most of my later songs, it works better when I’m performing it than when one listens to it on recording.