“Twist of Fate”: Remembering a time of transitions

It would be a reminder of things that changed forever.

“Twist of Fate” by Olivia Newton-John was playing when I had my last sleep over with an old friend, and also the moment my Mom came to realize her dad was no longer capable of doing the things he had always done.

So every time I hear that song, I enjoy it, sing along, and also remember a time of transitions.

Bus rider
In Grade 10, I was still hanging out with the guys I hung out with in junior high at St. Joe’s Elementary Junior High. That would soon change for a variety of reasons.

Yet, in the spring I was still friends with Joe Darveau. He was an interesting guy who did interesting things. He played Dungeons and Dragons, and he had a Commodore VIC-20 he played on. He was always tinkering with things, played video games at McLennan’s, the arcade in Coaldale, and watched “Star Trek”.

We arranged for him to sleep over at the farm, so we could play Intellivision, design video games on my Commodore 64, watch TV, and roam the farm.

So, he rode the school bus home with me, which was pretty common then.

When we got in the front door, I saw something that, as it turned out, was a life changer.

My grandfather
We were greeted by my Opa Jetz, my Mom’s father. He was working on this stand alone closet we had in what we called the porch of our house. It was the long room you entered when you walked through the front door. Opa was a little out of breath and packing up his tools. He said goodbye to us and soon left.

Later, Mom would tell me she shouldn’t have asked her dad to do that. He was so out of breath, and struggled to do the simplest things. He had emphysema and that was becoming more and more obvious. He was obviously slowing down, and the worst part was he knew it.

That would be the last time he ever did any sort of carpentry, or work for that matter, for us.

Mom had resolved not to ever ask him again.

The weekend
Joe and I had a good weekend, playing video games, trying to design our own, wandering the farm, and watching TV. He was kind of disappointed by TV because he lived in town and had cable TV. We lived in the three channel universe on the farm.

Joe also seemed different too. He seemed preoccupied because, kind of like he really wanted to be somewhere else.

My Mom offered him some lunch on noon of the Saturday. He said he was not interested, unless it was baloney and mustard. I told Mom that. A few minutes later she called us for supper. Joe again declined. She said she had baloney and mustard. I told him, and he jumped up and to the kitchen table in an instant.

At that point, I realized we were no longer in the same place in our lives.

The song
“Twist of Fate” was playing the day Joe came home on the bus with me. I remember the song running through my head, and singing the chorus that whole afternoon – on the bus, walking down the driveway, and talking to my Opa Jetz. It was what we now call an ear worm.

The song was recorded by Olivia Newton-John for the movie “Two of a Kind”, in which she reunited with co-star John Travolta. They had also appeared in the smash hit “Grease” in 1978.

Wikipedia reveals “Twist of Fate” was produced by David Foster and, when I read that, it does have that David Foster feel and sound to it. In 1986 Olivia Newton-John would team up with Foster on a duet called “The Best of Me’.

“Twist of Fate” was released in October of 1983 and went all the way to number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was Olivia Newton-John’s last top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100.

Parting thoughts
Joe would never come to visit again, and he disappeared from my life soon after.

We had just grown apart, in different directions. He had new and different friends, and so did I.