Billed as the ultimate Beatles tribute band, RAIN is in the midst of a road tour that will end on Broadway in mid-October; last week’s stop was Oklahoma City and my husband and I were lucky enough to catch last night’s final OKC performance.

I hate to gush too much, but RAIN was one of those experiences I won’t soon forget.  When the end arrived, I wasn’t ready for it.  I wanted these “Fab Four” impersonators to keep on playing all those songs I grew up with, with music that effortlessly transported me back to the sixties.

Sitting in that audience — and sometimes standing on my feet dancing to these old familiar tunes — I marveled at my luck at being alive when the Beatles were actually writing and singing their songs themselves.  Did anyone realize how gifted this band from Liverpool really was in real-time?  Or were most like me, realizing the miracle of their music long after the Beatles were no longer together?

For me, the Beatles were simply part of everyday life.  I followed their lives in my Tiger Beat and 16 magazines; I collected their music, and like most teens, I faithfully watched the Beatles cartoon show every Saturday morning.

I went to bed thinking of RAIN and woke this morning to the real deal.  Rain.  Driving.  Torrential.  Flash-flooding.  The street outside our Mesta Park home was a river.

Unfortunately, my son parked his girlfriend Amy’s car in the street.  By the time we realized the street was flooded, the car already was. And though he tried to get it started, it would not.

Sometimes we can’t take in what’s happening in real-time.  We need perspective.  Time.  Distance.  And sometimes, like this morning outside my window, we still can’t take in the reality of this thing called rain.