Sweet Banana

You know how relationship experts say love in a relationship progresses from wild passionate love to a more relaxed compassionate love? I feel like I just experienced that with my favorite band of all time, Great Caesar. Some may not know them because they're in the local scene, but the majority of them went to my high school and I think I can safely say that I consider some of them to be my friends. Their music is amazing and they're cute to boot. When I first discovered them, it was immediate, intense infatuation. I HAD to go to every show, buy every shirt and CD, make presents for the band members every Christmas, and learn every lyric to every song. I idolized each and every one of them, and every encounter and memory was carefully documented. But as time went on, my love for them changed. It didn't fade, exactly, but transformed into a different type of appreciation. I am no longer the fan girl who obsesses constantly and takes about a million pictures each show, shoving my way up to the very front. Instead, I'm more excited to see the guys again and listen to the lovely music they produce.

This phenomenon of compassionate love vs. passionate love was best exemplified by my little brother's girlfriend, M. Her crazed love obsession with the band and with the guys reminds me a lot of myself when I was her age in her position. At the end of their set, the guitar player threw a guitar pick into the crowd, landing right next to my feet. I bent down to pick it up, and handed it over to M. She was super excited and as giddy as a schoolgirl, while I gave it little regard. Passionate love me would have clung onto that pick for dear life, maybe giving it its own little box in my large box of memories. But compassionate love me recognizes the pick for what it is, and gives it to someone who would appreciate it. I still love the band wholeheartedly, it's just a different kind of love now. I was their #1 fan, and maybe I still am because of our history (four years of history!), but I pass that title onto M, who embodies true #1 fan qualities.