The Edge's Birthday

During the past several months, just to do something different with my Facebook updates, I've posted birthdays of people who, for whatever reason, interest me. Today is the 53rd birthday of The Edge, guitarist for U2.

I wasn't very aware of U2 until 1987, when my wife Beth and I traveled to Flagstaff, AZ, where Beth had accepted a teaching position at Northern Arizona University, and where I had gained a part-time teaching position. We were there in early July to find a house to rent or purchase. We stayed in one of the numerous motels on old Route 66. Cell phones weren't yet common, so we asked our realtor to call the motel and leave a message. But the fellow at the front desk was unreliable. Sometimes he told us if we had a message, other times he just didn't exert himself to let us know.

It all worked out, but I felt homesick and distressed. Flagstaff was so far from my parents in Illinois, and I worried about the unknown future. The motel wasn't awful but wasn't great. Adding to my blues, there was nothing on television except the Oliver North hearings. We did get MTV, which back then was fresh and wonderful. The network played U2's video "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" quite a bit. So different from the 80s synthpop that was my usual favorite, I loved the song and the video, with the band walking along the Las Vegas street. 

The song's sincere message of spiritual longing, and the bright sound of Edge's guitar, soothed my feelings of worry and uncertainty, and stayed with me as I sought God's guidance and enjoyed the warm presence of my beautiful wife as we napped and talked and planned. Once we moved to Flagstaff in August, I visited what became my regular shop on South Milton Road and purchased The Joshua Tree. Although I don't listen to it as much these days, it really became one of my life's most important albums, in a way that a group hadn't warmed my heart since high school days.  

Beth and I wouldn't have dreamed in 1987 that our beautiful daughter would eventually be born in Flagstaff. We moved away in the early 1990s but still return on occasion. What fun, a few years ago, when we three visited Dublin and saw U2's recording studio on the waterfront, although I've read that The Joshua Tree was recorded at another place. I thought back on the days when Edge's bright guitar first cheered me, one state over from the Joshua Tree Park. Happy birthday to him, wherever he might be today.