The Spirit of Woodstock

I was 20 years old and shared a VW bug with my brother.  We alternated weekends having that great car.  Luckily, the weekend of Woodstock,I had the car!!  Since I was the official driver in my group of girlfriends, it was my job to drive to Woodstock.  My aunt had a house near the site so we were going to stay over on Saturday night and just go to the Sunday concert.  We left Brooklyn in the afternoon, and by the time we arrived upstate, the New York Thruway was closed!  I parked the car on a country road as we proceeded to walk six miles to the site. 

Upon arrival, it was announced that it was a free concert.  We heard constant announcements throughout the day.  “Layla just had a baby man.” “Need some food? Head over to the tent.” “Bad trip? The medics are on hand.”  What did we get ourselves into?  “If you remember Woodstock, you weren’t really there.”  No drugs for me, so I remember everything! 

Then the rain came!!!  We just sat shoulder to shoulder as the rain soaked our bodies.  We didn’t have shelter and we didn’t have food.  The guy next to me offered a can of sardines.  It was quiet for a while and it gave me the opportunity to realize that this was an incredible experience.  The whole site was later filled with sleeping kids.  We were exhausted.  Janis Joplin came on.  She started to talk to us and when she sang her pure energy pierced our hearts.  Before we knew it, we were on our feet singing and dancing with mud dripping off our bodies. 

It was almost time to head home as we hitched a ride on a flatbed truck.  We jumped in the car with our muddy dried-up clothes.  Along the way I called Aunt Margaret.  “Are you ok?” she said.   “We’re all fine, we’re driving back to Brooklyn.”

I guess the spirit of Woodstock is long gone but, as a good citizen, I always try to help my fellow man.  As senior citizens we can attempt to be good role models.  When a young girl flipped the bird to me a couple of weeks ago, I threw her a peace sign.  She probably didn’t even get it!

                                                                                                Lorraine Colombo-Booras