Bionic Woman

(To set the scene, it was 1977. Two of the most popular shows on TV were The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.)

Among my many adventures in life was a run as a singer in a country band. We called ourselves “The Country Breeze.” We were quite famous…in our small Ohio town. On weekdays we dissected frogs in biology class, participated in extracurricular activities, hung out with friends, and ate lots of footlong chili dogs at the root beer stand. But on weekends, we hit the stage.

We were pretty good for high school kids. My sister Cindy played guitar and sang lead. Because she couldn’t harmonize, I always sang the harmonies. Our voices sounded almost the same so they blended well. Mike Barker played bass and his brother Mark Barker played banjo. Mark could make a banjo dance on “Cripple Creek,” “Dueling Banjos,” and “Rocky Top.” Jeff Baker was our drummer and my dad was our sound guy.

One weekend we were playing at the Honey Festival in Lebanon, Ohio. We had just kicked off “Rocky Mountain High” when a little girl in the audience yelled, “What’s wrong with your arm?” I ignored her and kept singing. A few minutes passed and she yelled again, “What’s wrong with your arm?”

I thought, “Where are her parents? Why are they letting her do that?” At 16, I was highly embarrassed. When the song ended, I motioned for the girl to come to the edge of the stage. I patiently explained to her that I was born with one arm and that I was wearing a prosthetic arm to help me do things. She seemed satisfied. She walked back into the crowd and we kicked off our next song.

Two minutes later I heard, very loudly, “What’s wrong with your arm?” As I continued to sing, I watched my boyfriend Tim (now my husband) weave his way through the crowd to the little girl. He bent down and said something in her ear. She slowly looked up at him; then she slowly looked toward the stage at me. She never said another word.

The Country Breeze performed a few more songs before taking a honey ice-cream break. When Tim walked over to join me, I exclaimed, “Thanks for making that little girl shut up! What did you tell her?”

He smiled and answered, “I told her you are the Bionic Woman and I am the Six Million Dollar Man and she better be quiet.”

 

Love always protects. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NIV)

The Country Breeze
Mark, Cindy, Jeff, Becky, Mike (left to right)