“Nothing Gold Can Stay”

“Nature’s first green is gold ^[1].” By the time I’d finished reading and seeing the movie “The Outsiders ^[2]” that poem was all I could remember. Robert Frost ^[3] became an idol to me of sorts and after just one viewing of the film version of “The Outsiders,” I could recite all 8 lines of that poem by heart. By the time I had seen the movie, all of its stars were already known to me via other films. When “The Outsiders” film was released I was only 7, but in the late 80’s I had seen much more of Rob Lowe ^[4], Emilio Estevez ^[5], Ralph Macchio ^[6] and of course Patrick Swayze ^[7] in other films ^[8].

They were the stars of the late 80’s, many of them belonging to the legendary Brat Pack ^[9]. I saw “Dirty Dancing ^[10]” before I had ever even heard of “The Outsiders” and so Patrick’s turn as the eldest of the brothers in the film is what stuck with me the most. There was just something about him. He touched our generation, multiple generations in fact.

He made us want to dance. Shit, he made me wish it was the 1960’s so I could visit my Grandmother in the Catskills at Kutshers Country Club ^[11] in its heyday, instead of having to go during the 1990’s for Passover while she spent 8 days eating matzoh with a bunch of old farts complaining about their grandchildren that didn’t visit enough. Talk about destroying a fantasy.

But at the end of the day I could always go home and pop in my VHS tape of Dirty Dancing and drift away. It was a good time. We were young. We were innocent. Things were so simple then.

We’ll miss you Patrick ^[12].

Stay gold.