The O'jays Stairway to Heaven has been our Love Song for 44 years

Here we go

Climbing the stairway to heaven

Here we go

Walking the road of ecstasy

Taking the load

Of this whole world off our shoulders

The door is wide open for you

The door is open for me

It was Saturday April 17, 1976 and I was a 17 year old high school senior. I was attending a party at the local masonic hall when four young men from a nearby city walked in. They were invited by one of my friends who had met them the week before. She was interested in one of them and kept him occupied. I danced a few times with two of them and the fourth young man asked me to dance only once. It was during a slow song by the O'Jays entitled Stairway to heaven. This recording was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff who wrote a lot of hit songs in the 1970s. . This particular recording was on the R&B album Family Reunion,(released in 1975) and was on the B side of the single Livin for the weekend. The popularity of both songs sent the record to number one and according to Wikepedia it remained on the Billboard Charts for 13 weeks.

During the summer of 76, Stairway to heaven was what we called back then, "the jam." Back in the day, when this beautiful melody began to play, almost every guy grabbed a girl to dance. There was always a song of the hour, both fast and slow that got everyone out on the dance floor. The lyrics to Stairway to heaven were considered romantic and suggestive. It was more what was implied than what was actually said. Most girls I knew did not want to "slow drag" with just anyone, especially when the singer is talking about making love. In those days slow dancing was considered intimate and some young ladies preferred to dance up close only way whomever they were in love with at the time. Even so, if asks we would ablige a young fellow because after all the pint of the social gathering was to dance.

I personally felt that way, yet here I was in the arms of a perfect stranger. Stairway to heaven, in the late 1970s, was one of those tunes where if you were not in love you desired to be. Those were the days when many young women remained virgins till marriage, engagement, or until they met that special someone. Stairway to heaven was a song where those of us who were still innocent could romanticize and fantasize about our first time as we listened to or sang along with this O'Jay's hit.

Here we go

Oh baby

Oh baby, here we go

Climbing the stairway to heaven

Climbing the stairway to heaven

And we are going step by step

I don't remember any conversation as my future husband and I danced to Stairway to Heaven, and I don't believe we exchanged full names. He gave me his nickname,which is Shakie and I responded that I was Cheryl. I do recall that I felt safe and secure with this young man's arms around me and his body close to mine. Neither of us can recall if we even danced again that night, but what happened one week later stays with me as if it took place only yesterday. On Sunday April 25, my phone rang around 5:00 PM and it was my friend who had taken a liking to one of the four young men from the city. He had driven the 10 miles to where we lived in the county and brought one of his buddies along. She asked if his partner could come to my house so she could enjoy time with her man and I said, "Why not." Our homes were about two blocks apart so I began walking to meet this fellow half way. I had no romantic ideas, I was just doing a favor for a friend, or so I thought.

As he got closer I realized he was the young man I had danced with on the O'Jays tune. We walked back to my house and he introduced himself as Michael Preston and as we began talking we found out we had a lot in common. He was 18 and also graduating high school in June. To my surprise, he was simultaneously taking classes at the community college where I was going to attend in the fall. Each of us had the largest record collection of all our friends and both of us loved The O'jays. He gave me a bracelet that he was wearing, so I took off the one on my arm and gave it to him. We kissed and without another word it was understood that we were going steady. He promised to call me the following night at 8, and at exactly 8:00 PM the phone rang. He told me he was not at home, but in a park shooting hoops. He had found a pay phone because he had promised to call me and I thought it so romantic.

The following spring The O'jays came to town and we were standing in the front of the coliseum to the left of the stage. When they sang Stairway to Heaven, we danced right there on the floor. When we saw the group again a few years later, we did the same thing. We were married on April 25 1981 and over the years, whenever our song was played at parties, nightclubs, dances, or family reunions we always got on the floor. Time passed, music changed and we were no longer going places where our special tune might be played. It had been years since I had even thought about the O'jays song until the fall of 2013. I heard it on an oldies station on the car radio as I was driving and got an idea. That evening when Michael came in and got settled from work, I played Stairway to Heaven from the Internet, reached for his hand and we began to dance.

I told him we should make a point to dance to our song at least once a month for the rest of our lives, and especially on our anniversary. This sounded good in theory but truthfully we have not been able obtain a monthly routine. Spontaneity, I now believe is much better. On random occasions, however, and on our anniversary (when it comes to mind), one of us will play Stairway to heaven and reach for the other's hand. In April of 2020 we will have been together 44 years and 39 of those as husband and wife. We have many fond memories of our love song and I am hoping we get the chance to make many more.