Mitch & Mickey: A Biography
Written by Cherry
2005—Albany, NY
Mitch Cohen and Mickey Crabbe have agreed to release their story to the public. Recently, they met with two women from their publication team, Cherry and Alexis. Here’s what they had to say in a recent interview:
Mickey: Mitch and I had the opportunity to meet with two wonderful fans, Cherry and Alexis. Cherry is going to write our biography and Alexis is in charge of our website. Wonderful, wonderful girls, they are.
Mitch: Mickey and I decided that it’s time for our fans to know our story. The Mitch and Mickey saga. A legend in folk music history.
Mickey: It just blows my mind that we have a website. Technology is amazing, isn’t it Mitch?
Mitch: Very amazing. We have fans sending us emails saying things like “you rock my world” and “I love you” and “I really dig what you do.”
Mickey: I remember Cherry saying to us that we “rock her sox.” I liked that.
Mitch: Her socks had little reindeer on them. Little gingerbread houses, candy canes, wreaths. Christmas socks.
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Part 1: “The Good, the Bad, and the Pummeled”
The Half Moon Café in Greenwich Village packed in the usual Friday night crowd. These people were here for the folk acts that the Half Moon was well noted for. Back stage, the Devlin sisters, Jocelyn, Claire, Estelle, and Mickey were getting ready to go onstage. The French-Canadian folk singers, known as the North Four were appearing at the Half Moon for the first time.
Mickey, the youngest of the Devlin sisters, nervously tuned her Autoharp, wondering what kind of crowd they would get. She was used to performing onstage at small, local coffee houses in Canada, but the Half Moon was a big step in her budding folk career.
“Don’t be nervous, Mickey,” said Jocelyn as she touched up her makeup. “We’ve been onstage before. This may be a bigger crowd, but I assure you that when the lights go out it’s no different than what you’re used to.”
“Let’s go, we’re on!” Claire said, grabbing her guitar and rushing toward the entrance to the stage.
The sisters took their places and began playing. Jocelyn had been right: once the spotlight was on them they could only see the silhouette of the audience. Mickey relaxed and let her voice mold into harmony with her sisters.
The North Four were only one verse into their second song when a voice broke the silent audience.
“Take your shirt off!”
Mickey, stunned, almost stopped playing when she had remembered Jocelyn once telling her to ignore any distractions and keep playing. Her voice quavered a bit, but she kept in time with her sisters.
“Get off the stage! You sing like crap!”
This time Mickey did stop playing. Estelle gave her an urging look to keep going. Claire and Jocelyn were calm and cool as though nothing was happening. Mickey nervously plucked the strings of her Autoharp, but her voice was quavering even more. She had performed onstage a dozen or so times before, but had never once experienced anything like this. Mickey’s eyes adjusted to the smoky atmosphere and she could faintly make out the heckler: he was short, stout, and frankly he was ugly.
“Come on! Take it off or else get off!”
The next thing Mickey saw was a tall, shadowy figure come up behind the heckler and grab him. A fight broke out between the heckler and the tall figure. The spotlight went out, the North Four stopped playing, and there was chaos. Mickey strained to see what was happening and the last thing she saw before Jocelyn whisked her backstage was a beautiful man with a face covered with blood.
“Folk musician pummeled!” Claire read. She had just got the morning paper and there below the headline was an article about what had happened the night before at the Half Moon Café. Below it was a picture of the man who had attacked the heckler. He was lying in a hospital bed with a cast on his leg and bandages on his face.
“Mickey, look at this!”
All that morning, Mickey had been sitting quietly, strumming her Autoharp and wondering about the beautiful stranger who had come to her defense the previous night. Claire approached Mickey and handed her the newspaper.
“Maybe this will make you feel better…or not.” Claire wasn’t sure what to say to her sister, so she just left Mickey alone.
Mickey put down her Autoharp and gazed at the picture. She didn’t need to read the story; she knew what had happened. Her beautiful stranger was at the hospital right in town. His name was Mitch Cohen. In a daze, Mickey found herself dressing and rushing out the door, only to be stopped by Jocelyn.
“Where are you off to in such a rush?” she asked.
“I’ve got to see him.” Mickey held the paper up. “Mitch Cohen.”
Jocelyn looked over at Estelle and Claire, who were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Estelle raised a curious eyebrow.
“I think our little sister digs this mystery man who got pummeled in our honor,” Jocelyn said, grinning.
Claire smiled. “Go for it, Mickey.”
Mickey stood nervously outside of Mitch’s room at the hospital. In her hands was a single red rose in a little glass vase, a token of her appreciation to Mitch. After a moment or two of stalling, she took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Mitch was sleeping. Mickey slowly approached him and set the rose on the table next to the bed. She looked at his face; his bruised, bandaged face, his jaw wired shut, and felt tears in her eyes. Here was this beautiful man who had endured all of this defending the honor of a woman he didn’t even know. Even though her sisters had been there, Mickey somehow knew it was she that Mitch had risked himself for. Her sisters thought of her as born dreamer with a sensitive, poetic heart. Unable to hold back, Mickey reached out and softly touched Mitch’s face. Mitch stirred slightly and Mickey pulled away.
Slowly, Mitch’s eyes opened and the first thing he saw was a soft, beautiful face with riveting eyes that were full of concern. He couldn’t speak but he knew who she was: one of the sisters of the North Four. The most beautiful one, in fact. He moved his eyes toward the table at the foot of the bed and there he saw that single, perfect rose. Again he looked at Mickey.
Mickey could feel the softness of his eyes upon her. She stepped closer to him and took his hand.
“I’m Mickey Devlin. I want you to know how much I appreciate what you did for me.” Sensitive, young Mickey believed wholeheartedly in love at first sight and she could feel a warm rush surging through her blood when he looked at her. She leaned down and kissed him softly on his cheek. Then she turned and left the room. Mitch knew that she would be back the next day.
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Part 2: “When You’re Next to Me”
Mickey knew she had fallen in love with Mitch. After that first meeting with him in the hospital, Mickey had gone back and stayed with him as long as she could. She would hold Mitch’s hand and read the beautiful poetry he wrote for her. Over and over again, Mickey relived in her mind the first time Mitch kissed her. It was the day before he got out of the hospital. It was raining, but sun broke through the clouds. Mitch was sitting up in his bed and Mickey was sitting facing him, holding his hand as she always did. Mitch reached out and touched Mickey’s face. He leaned forward and the rain outside slowed to a light drizzle. He leaned in to kiss her and as their lips softly met, sunlight came in the window and revealed a beautiful rainbow outside. It was the most beautiful moment of Mickey’s life.
Mitch wanted to see Mickey as soon as he could, which ended up being almost a week after he got out of the hospital. Mickey was so excited. As she got ready to meet Mitch, her sisters buzzed around her with words of advice and such. Being the youngest, Mickey was used to her sisters mothering her. Jocelyn, since she was the oldest, dispensed “useful” advice to Mickey as often as she could. Claire and Estelle hung back more so.
“Now, Mickey, remember what I keep telling you. Don’t lead him on, because you don’t know if he’s really right,” Jocelyn said, hovering over Mickey, who was sitting at her vanity.
Mickey was too wrapped up in the excitement of seeing Mitch to notice what Jocelyn was saying. In fact, she had dreamily recounted her kiss with Mitch to her sisters. To this, Jocelyn had said, “Don’t lead him on, Mickey. You shouldn’t kiss him if you don’t want to go all the way.”
“Famous last words,” was what Claire and Estelle were thinking, but they kept their mouths shut.
Mickey tied her paisley scarf into her long dark hair and she was ready. She and Mitch were meeting in the park. Mickey didn’t want Jocelyn to grill Mitch and dispense her patented wisdom to him as she did everyone else she knew. Besides, Jocelyn, Claire, and Estelle had accompanied Mickey to the hospital one day and therefore they got to meet Mitch.
When Mickey reached the park, she felt as though she was walking on air. Mitch was waiting for her and holding a single red rose. Mickey ran to him.
“If this rose could talk,” Mitch began, but Mickey was already kissing him.
They spent the evening in the park together. They sat in the grass and talked, they walked hand in hand in the moonlight, and they made love under the stars. The first rays of dawn were peeking through the night sky when Mickey got home. She was so in love with Mitch her heart felt like it was going to burst. Mickey put her rose in water and headed to her room. She should have known Jocelyn would be awake.
“Mickey, where were you?” she asked. “Do you know what time it is?”
Mickey rolled her eyes, but the smile never left her face. “Yes, mother.”
“Don’t back sass me, Mickey. I’m the closest thing you’ve got since mom and dad died,” Jocelyn reminded her for the umpteenth time.
Claire and Estelle came out of their rooms to see what all the commotion was about. Jocelyn was standing in Mickey’s doorway with her hands on her hips. “What were you and Mitch doing all night?”
Mickey sighed dreamily and fell back onto her bed. “He’s so incredible!”
Claire and Estelle exchanged looks. Mickey was not about to let Jocelyn spoil her mood.
“We talked all night. It was like we…wandered through each other’s secrets.”
Immediately Mickey reached for the notebook on her night table to write down what she had said. It would make for a great song. Mickey was always writing down spontaneous poetic thoughts that came to her.
Jocelyn’s eyes widened. “You went all the way didn’t you? I knew it! I can’t believe it, Mickey, you made love in the park?”
Claire yawned. “Get with the times, Jocelyn. This is 1964. Everybody makes love in the park.”
“Yeah, haven’t you seen Barefoot in the Park?” Estelle asked with a smile. Jocelyn glared at them.
For the next few weeks, Mitch and Mickey were together every spare moment. Mickey wasn’t writing songs with her sisters anymore, but instead writing poetry with Mitch. They empowered each other so much that their combined energy created a beautiful poem that Mitch titled “One More Time.” Mitch and Mickey both decided to put it to song. It was when Mickey went to get her Autoharp from home that all hell broke loose.
“Mickey, the North Four needs you,” Jocelyn said.
“Mitch needs me too,” Mickey said, gathering her things. “We’re going to start writing music together.”
“Well what about us, your sisters? Or have you forgotten?”
“No, Jocelyn, I haven’t forgotten,” Mickey said coldly. She surprised herself because she was usually very calm. Jocelyn had just been getting overbearing since Mickey had started seeing Mitch. “I’m sure you, Claire, and Estelle can perform just fine without me. I didn’t really contribute much to the North Four anyway.”
“Of course you contributed, Mickey.”
“What do you mean? For crying out loud, Jocelyn, you guys have never really let me shine the way I want to. Every time I write a poem you think it’s too…whatever!”
“Oh that is not true and you know it. We’ve used your poetry before.”
“Yeah, for one song, and you didn’t even use all of it. You think you’re the boss of me. Well, I’ve got news for you, big sister: I’m eighteen years old and an adult. Therefore, you are not the boss of me.”
Jocelyn looked as though Mickey had just slapped her. “Fine Mickey, do whatever you want. Go ahead and be with Mitch. Give him all of your musical talents. We don’t have to be the North Four anymore, so just go!”
Mickey could feel a strange anger creeping through her. Her blood was hot and before she knew what she was doing, she grabbed a vase from her dresser and threw it at the wall. She was startled and even a little afraid when she saw it shatter. She had never been this angry before in her life. Hiding the fear in her eyes, she looked coldly at Jocelyn.
“Then I’m going.”
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Part 3: “Top of the World"
Six weeks had passed since Mickey had left home and went to live with Mitch. After she had thrown the vase and stormed out on Jocelyn, Mickey wasn’t sure that she really knew her own self. That day, Mitch had opened the door to his apartment to find Mickey in tears. Mickey threw herself at him and cried her eyes out. Mitch gave Mickey a new home and the promise that he would make sure that Mickey never ever got hurt.
Mitch and Mickey spent their days writing poetry and music. On the month anniversary of their first meeting in the hospital, Mitch gave Mickey a single red rose and said the most beautiful words Mickey had ever heard.
“If this rose could talk it could express the way you make me feel but it could never show one tenth of how much I love you.”
Mitch didn’t have to say it, but Mickey knew it was his way of proposing to her. She never felt so happy in all her life. They looked into each others eyes and sang the first song they wrote together, “One More Time.” This song was a very strong part of Mitch and Mickey because they had created it together. Every Friday night, they would perform it at the Half Moon as their finale. Whenever they performed onstage together, there was always a single red rose in a vase between them: the symbol of their love.
It just so happened that a producer from Chameleon records, Richard Flanagan was at the Half Moon the Friday after Mitch and Mickey became engaged. He was so moved at the way Mitch and Mickey sang “One More Time” looking into each others’ eyes, that he knew they were going to be his next signed on folk act. After Mitch and Mickey’s set, Richard approached them backstage and asked if they were interested in a recording contract with Chameleon. Mitch and Mickey were ecstatic and this was one step toward their dreams of becoming famous folk musicians. Richard immediately whisked them off to celebrate and as they were leaving the Half Moon, Mickey could have sworn she saw Jocelyn sitting by herself at a dim table in the back.
Mickey hadn’t seen much of her sisters since she moved in with Mitch. Every so often she would get a phone call from Claire or Estelle, but she never heard from Jocelyn. It wasn’t until three weeks after she and Mitch had begun recording at Chameleon that she ran into Jocelyn. Mickey was at the market on a Sunday when she turned and saw Jocelyn putting a loaf of bread in her basket. Mickey approached her almost timidly.
“Hi, Jocelyn,” she said softly.
Jocelyn turned to see her sister looking more radiant than she could remember ever seeing her. Mickey looked great in her mahogany peasant blouse and her favorite kerchief tied in her long dark hair. Her face was aglow, but her eyes weren’t as warm as Jocelyn was used to seeing. In fact, they looked deep and troubled. When she was apart from Mitch, Mickey seemed to change and become almost shy and afraid. Mitch gave her power, but only when he was near her. Part of Mickey’s troubled eyes was remembering the unfamiliar anger that had crept into her when she threw the vase in front of Jocelyn. That incident had made Mickey afraid to be angry—afraid of what she was capable of doing.
“Mickey, it’s good to see you,” said Jocelyn without so much as a trace of how much she missed Mickey. “It’s been about two months now. How is Mitch?”
“He’s fine,” Mickey said. Her voice shook and she tried to keep it steady. “We have a record contract with Chameleon. We’ve been spending most of our time in the studio the past few weeks.”
“I know,” Jocelyn replied. “I saw you at the Half Moon awhile ago. I was almost shocked. I’ve never seen you so passionate about your music.”
“Mitch brings out the best in me. I’ve never been given the chance to let my real talents out.” Mickey couldn’t understand the tension between her and Jocelyn.
“Well, I’m glad that you can let them out. I hope you make it big because Estelle, Claire, and I don’t get gigs the way we used to when we were the North Four. I guess you’re the typical singer who ditches her old band to get famous all by herself.”
Mickey felt like she had been slapped. Jocelyn had seemed perfectly civil until that moment. Mickey couldn’t tell if Jocelyn was jealous of her or still angry about the way Mickey had stormed out. Maybe it was both. Since Jocelyn was the oldest and the mother figure of her sisters, she was used to being controlling. Now that Mickey was on her own, Jocelyn had lost some of her fire.
“I’m sorry to hear that, Jocelyn, but it can’t be helped. I am happy with Mitch as a lover and a singer.” Mickey’s tone steadied.
Jocelyn had nothing more to say. She felt that Mickey was a traitor and so she turned and walked away, not caring if she ever saw Mickey again. The not caring didn’t last long—Jocelyn attended all of Mitch and Mickey’s gigs, careful not to been seen. In truth, she envied Mickey’s grit and deep down inside, she was proud.
Mitch and Mickey’s first album, Meet Mitch and Mickey was due for release in February of 1965. Mickey’s quiet life with Mitch was starting to change. Richard was booking gigs for them as fast as he could. Most Friday and Saturday nights, Mitch and Mickey would perform at two different places. They almost always headlined at the Half Moon on Fridays and they were starting to become more recognized at the Folk Place, one of the biggest venues in New York City. They had played the Folk Place three times now, each time opening for the Folksmen.
No matter how hectic things got sometimes, Mitch and Mickey stayed wholly devoted to each other. They wrote all of their songs together in their small apartment, they gave each other red roses at unexpected times, and they took moonlit walks in the park where they had their first date. Anytime Mitch gave Mickey a rose, he would look deep into her eyes and whisper, “If this rose could talk…” and then he would kiss her. Mickey did the same when she gave Mitch a rose. Mitch wrote beautiful love poems for Mickey, which Mickey treasured dearly. Mickey was more in love with Mitch everyday and her life couldn’t be anymore perfect. On the day of the album’s release, Mitch and Mickey were going to get married.
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Part 4: “Meet Mitch & Mickey”
February 19, 1965—executives at Chameleon records hosted an elaborate party to celebrate the release of Meet Mitch & Mickey. The party was held at the Folk Place and the stage donned the wide-eyed black and white photo of Mitch and Mickey that was on the cover of the album. Mickey was a combination of ecstatic, excited, and nervous. While she basked in the glory of achieving her first album, deep down she wished for the quiet days of when she first moved in with Mitch. They had spent all of their time writing music and making love with no reason to leave their love nest until the weekends when they would perform.
Of course Mitch and Mickey were asked to perform “One More Time” for the crowd. They were a hit as usual, and when they were backstage they met a man who was going to change their lives even more. The man was Irving Steinbloom, and he wanted to make sure Mitch and Mickey got the fame they deserved. Upon hearing “One More Time” for the very first time at the Folk Place, Irving was incredibly moved. He was already a big part of the careers of the Folksmen, whose first album Pickin’ had just hit the shelves in early January, and also the Main Street Singers, who were already quite big in the folk scene with two albums on the market. Irving played an important role in three record companies: Folktown, Hearth, and Chameleon. He was taking care of each label’s most prominent folk act and now he had chosen Mitch and Mickey from four new folk acts signed on with Chameleon in the past year.
Mitch and Mickey were backstage after their performance sharing a quiet moment together when Irving Steinbloom approached them. They knew their good fortune that Irving was taking them on and they were very excited to be formally introduced.
“I’m very proud to have you aboard,” Irving said warmly. “I will be handling your promotions and concerts along with the Folksmen and the Main Street Singers. To start with, you’ll be headlining here at the Folk Place right with the Folksmen on both Friday and Saturday nights. I’ve also worked out an agreement that you will be the main folk act at the Half Moon Café’s Thursday Night Folk Festival; I couldn’t let you forget the place where you were discovered.”
Mitch and Mickey were excited about the new opportunities that were being given to them. They new very well that the Main Street Singers had started headlining at the Folk Place until early 1963 when Irving Steinbloom signed them on to work with him. Now they were featured at the most prominent clubs in New York and acquiring fame more and more since their second album had hit the shelves in the fall of 1964. Now the Folksmen were becoming more famous and Steinbloom was preparing them for the kind of exposure that the Main Street Singers were getting. It was only a matter of time before Mitch and Mickey were right up there with them.
“Now I have a surprise for you both,” said Irving with a smile. “A little bird told me that you were planning to get married the day your first album was released. Well obviously time today did not allow for that.” Irving motioned Mitch and Mickey to follow him onstage. Mickey held Mitch’s hand tightly and wondered what was going on. When they walked onstage, the crowd erupted into applause. Irving approached the microphone and the noise died down.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for all of your support for Mitch and Mickey: the sweethearts of folk music. Tonight is a very special night for them. Of course we are here to celebrate the release of their brand new debut album, Meet Mitch & Mickey but we are also here to celebrate a very special moment in their lives.”
The lights dimmed. Mitch let go of Mickey’s hand and Irving motioned her to center stage. Mickey didn’t know what to expect, but she smiled at everyone: the executives from Chameleon, Richard, Irving, and two familiar faces that made her heart pound with happiness. Claire and Estelle were standing right in front of the stage grinning from ear to ear. Mickey started to wonder where Jocelyn was, but her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Mitch walking toward her. He held a single red rose in one hand and took Mickey’s hand in the other.
Mickey looked into Mitch’s eyes that were so full of love as he spoke to her. “Mickey Devlin, I asked you to be my wife with a single red rose like this one and you told me yes. Now I am asking you to marry me right here so that we can begin our life together in the same place we are beginning our success as musicians together.”
Tears began to stream down Mickey’s cheeks. Mitch had been in on the surprise Irving had mentioned earlier! “Yes, Mitch,” Mickey whispered. “Yes I will marry you right here.”
The crowd once again burst into applause as Irving assisted a minister onto the stage. Mitch gave Mickey the rose and brushed away her happy tears. Mickey was so surprised and happy that she barely heard the words that the minister spoke. She just kept looking into Mitch’s eyes. After they said, “I do,” Mitch took both of Mickey’s hands in his so that they were both holding the rose. He looked into her eyes and spoke:
“I bathe in the sunlight
That shines from your eyes
And I dream from the softness
Of your kiss
You have made me happy
A million times over
And God has truly blessed me
My beautiful love
You are forever mine”Mickey’s tears flowed freely as Mitch leaned in to kiss her. The minister pronounced them man and wife and they were awash with applause and cheers from everyone watching. Mickey’s eyes glowed with happiness, for Mitch was hers forever now. People were coming at Mitch and Mickey from all sides to congratulate them on their new album and their new marriage. In all the commotion, Mickey sought out Claire and Estelle, who were ecstatic to see her.
“Where’s Jocelyn?” Mickey asked.
“She said she was coming,” Estelle replied. “I couldn’t imagine her missing out on this.”
“You mean you knew I was getting married before I did?”
“We were the only ones. Mitch called and told us to be here for it. Everyone else is just as surprised as you. They thought they were at a party just to celebrate the album.”
Mickey opened her mouth to say something, but she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure slipping outside. Dodging through the crowd, Mickey ran outside into the cold February night. Jocelyn was gone now, but Mickey knew she had been there. Although she was sad about not actually seeing Jocelyn, Mickey felt better knowing that she had cared enough to be there for the wedding.
1965 was a busy and hectic year for Mitch and Mickey. They were playing folk clubs almost every night while writing songs for their second album. Recording was to start in September, which was fortunate because there was never enough time. Mitch and Mickey had been given time to enjoy life as newlyweds for about two weeks and then it was back to work. Deep down, Mickey longed to have Mitch’s baby, but she knew that motherhood would bring a slow halt to her career. They were getting famous and the album was a success. Mitch and Mickey were happy with their career and newfound fame, so they decided to wait on having a baby. There were days Mickey would get tears in her eyes when she opened her diaphragm case, but she knew what was for the best.
Winter of 1965 approached in a whirlwind of time. Irving Steinbloom was booking gigs and appearances faster than Mitch and Mickey could breathe. When they weren’t out performing, they were in the studio working on their second album, Songs From a Love Nest, which was due for release in February of 1966 on the year anniversary of Meet Mitch & Mickey if deadlines were met accordingly. Now that the Folksmen were a big phenomenon in the folk music scene, Mitch and Mickey were the primary headliners at the Folk Place. Irving assured them that by the end of 1966 they would be playing all over the country as were the Folksmen and of course the Main Street Singers.
Tensions between Mitch and Mickey were surprisingly few. Other than the occasional instance of getting annoyed at one another, the two never really fought. Mickey was relieved and under the impression that her marriage was close to perfect. Mitch figured they were too busy to breathe for five minutes, let alone fight with each other. Still, their carefree days were few. Most nights they would come home from a performance or the studio and just fall into bed, fast asleep within seconds. By the time February rolled around, Songs From a Love Nest was out, on time by a miracle. The Folksmen were still at the epitome of the folk phenomenon, so Irving wanted to keep Mitch and Mickey headlining at the Folk Place for a while longer. He told them that great musicians don’t rush into fame, but ease into it, and that’s just what he was making sure happened. Irving didn’t want any of his three big acts to feel like they were getting hit by a freight train because things were crazy enough without any added pressure.
Mitch and Mickey’s one-year wedding anniversary came at them so quickly that it didn’t even seem like a year. Since the album was freshly released, Irving and Richard from Chameleon saw to it that Mitch and Mickey could spend some much needed quality time together. Most couples never spent the kind of time together that Mitch and Mickey did. Mickey needed to be near Mitch whether they were working or not. Her entire focus was on Mitch and she felt like half of her was literally missing when they were apart. Irving sent them away to his family cottage in Westport, Connecticut for a week as an anniversary gift. Mitch and Mickey found it simply delicious to just relax and be the carefree lovers they were only a year ago.
The week away did wonders for Mitch and Mickey. They were happier than they had ever been and for once they were able to sit back and drink everything in from the past year. Mickey’s mind was a tangled web of thoughts about her career, her marriage, and whether or not to have a baby. The thought of having Mitch’s baby plagued her most because as much as she wanted it to happen it just couldn’t at this point in their lives. Sometimes she would make up her mind to throw caution to the wind and just get pregnant, but a small fear always stopped her at the last minute. Mitch made her see things logically.
“We’ve only been married for a year, Mickey,” he told her. “We have a career that a million struggling folk musicians can only dream of. As much as I would love to have a baby with you, we just can’t. We’ve worked too hard to let anything stop our dreams of making music.”
Mickey knew that Mitch was right. Somewhere in the middle of their vacation she got in one of her moods to just get pregnant and not care about what happened because of it. She felt strong and sure of what she wanted, and every one of Mitch’s kisses that night strengthened her decision. She was absolutely certain that she wanted to try for a baby when Mitch stopped and handed her the dreaded diaphragm case. Mickey knew that Mitch was right and trusted his every instinct, and she knew that there would not be a baby.
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Part 5: “Climactic Breakdown and the Fear of Being Mickey”
Mitch and Mickey’s lives had taken on a steady routine that kept them working on their music constantly. They only seemed to rest during the morning hours between 7 and 11am. Performances, recording sessions, and various other instances kept the two awake at all hours. In October of 1966, Mitch and Mickey released their third album, appropriately titled If This Rose Could Talk. No matter how hectic and tense things got, Mitch and Mickey never forgot their solemn promises made, nor the roses they gave to one another. They were truly the sweethearts of folk, loved by anyone who knew them or saw them perform together. They were fast becoming a folk music sensation and their guest appearance on Lee Aikman’s Folk Hour began the world’s love affair with them.
After the third album’s release, Irving Steinbloom decided the Mitch and Mickey were ready to tour around the country. The two still had an album that was due out in the summer of 1967, so when they weren’t onstage they were writing songs in cramped tour busses or tiny hotel rooms. Their time to sleep grew shorter and therefore there were some changes that made their storybook marriage begin its slow unraveling.
The pressure and lack of sleep got to Mitch first. He and Mickey drained pots of coffee to stay awake for whatever they had to do, but Mitch needed to relax. Sometimes he felt like Mickey was suffocating him with her constant need to be near him. Mitch would never tell Mickey that, because he knew how fragile she was. Mickey, on the other hand was worried about Mitch. She felt like every time she would get close to him, he would inch back just a little more. Most of the time she chalked it up to the many tensions they had been facing. They had their moments of little arguments and annoyances, but they didn’t have their first big fight until March of 1967—one month into their tour. At the time, Mitch and Mickey were headlining the Rock Port Folk Festival right along with the Folksmen. Some lesser-known folk acts were also performing at the festival as openers, one of whom was Eric Sky. Eric played a very mellow brand of folk music and he was very with the times, a noted hippie. He would only last about a year in the folk world before he turned his music into the protestive anti-war rock and roll that would be the heart of the late 1960’s.
Eric’s way of easing tensions was drugs, which he was more than happy to share with anyone who asked. One night after a particularly long concert, Mitch found himself in Eric’s crowded hotel room in a thick haze of smoke. Joints and were being passed back and forth like common cigarettes and there was a crowd of people gathered in front of the bureau and snorting white lines of something chalky, which Mitch knew to be cocaine. Out of nowhere, someone passed Mitch a joint. He took it and inhaled deeply, and found that his stress was melting with every hit. By the time he left Eric’s room, Mitch could hardly walk straight. His legs felt like jelly and he wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and be motionless. When he opened the door to his own room, he staggered over to the bed and found Mickey sleeping. Her cheeks were streaked with makeup as though she had cried herself to sleep. In his fist, Mitch clutched an orange tissue paper square that girl with eyes as wide as saucers had given him. Mitch did exactly as she had told him: he tilted Mickey’s face up, parted her lips, and slipped the tissue paper onto her tongue. Afterward, he crawled over top of her so he could lay on her other side where they would face one another.
Mitch’s senses felt as though they were exploding from the effects of the liquid that had been dropped onto the tissue paper square he had let melt on his tongue before going back to Mickey. As she breathed out, Mitch inhaled so that he could breathe her in. His hand moved to touch her face; his fingers lingered on her full lips.
Sunlight opened Mickey’s eyes in the late morning. She felt strange for some reason. Her last clear memory had been falling asleep fully clothed and in angry tears because she didn’t know where Mitch was. Now she woke to find herself and Mitch naked and entwined together, but she couldn’t recall the events that lead to it. The memory was sketchy, but she could faintly recall a dream she had about herself flying. Every cloud that passed her by felt like a kiss, but now she wondered if it had been Mitch. It scared her, not being clearheaded. At least Mitch was her own husband and nothing bad had happened, but still Mickey felt uncomfortable. She untangled herself from Mitch, put on her robe, and went to look at herself in the mirror. Aside from the tousled hair and the makeup streaked down her cheeks, Mickey felt like she was not inside her own body. When she looked in the mirror she felt as though she was seeing herself through someone else’s eyes. Although she had slept, she felt unspeakably drained of all energy. All she could really do was crawl back into bed beside Mitch and fall into a deep sleep.
Mickey didn’t wake up again until two hours before she and Mitch had to be onstage. Mitch was sitting up in bed munching from a bag of doughnut holes and scribbling furiously in his notebook.
“Mitch, what happened last night?” she asked groggily.
Mitch stopped writing. He was clearheaded, and his acid trip had worn off a while ago. Once that happened, he started to feel immense guilt for basically drugging Mickey. He couldn’t lie to her though.
“I’m so sorry, Mickey,” he whispered.
Mickey was confused. “Sorry for what? What happened?”
“How much do you remember?” Mitch asked.
“I don’t know. Not very much. I had a dream I was flying and then I woke up naked with you. Then I had to sleep some more because I could barely move. My limbs felt like weights.”
Mitch lowered his head. “You and I were on acid last night. Something with a colorful nickname that came on little tissue squares.”
Mickey was frightened. She was rather naďve to drugs, but that was fine by her. She preferred to be high on life and melted away in her music or in Mitch. “Mitch, how?”
“I got it from a friend of Eric Sky. She told me it would heighten our senses and if we made love it would feel more incredible than we have ever known it to.”
Mickey’s emotions were tangled up inside of her. She didn’t know whether to cry or be angry or be afraid. “I don’t remember taking it though. How did I get it?”
“I gave it to you,” Mitch said quietly. “I’m so sorry, Mickey, I had already taken some and I was also high from dope. I just slipped the little paper into your mouth.”
Anger crept into Mickey. It wasn’t the same defiant anger that she had felt when she fought with Jocelyn. This anger frightened her even more and took complete control of her body. She grabbed the object nearest to her—a water glass—and hurled it at Mitch with all her might. Mitch ducked and the glass smashed against the wall behind the bed. Then Mickey started screaming at Mitch and throwing anything else she could get her hands on. Mitch was too afraid to say anything in his own defense. He had never seen Mickey act so violent before and he had to get away from her to think straight. When Mickey stopped throwing things, she continued to shout. Her face was beet red and hot tears poured from her eyes. When she was spent from unleashing her anger, she collapsed on the bed and sobbed hysterically. All that ran through her mind was how Mitch had to take everything from her. He took her virginity, he took her from her sisters, and now he took away her innocence of things like drugs. Granted, much of the things that Mickey had accused Mitch of many were her own doing. She had chosen to leave the North Four and to make Mitch her first lover. Deep down she knew that, but her stubborn anger wasn’t going to let her even think it. Mitch quietly left the room while Mickey cried until she had a splitting headache. They didn’t see each other again until they were onstage.
Mitch and Mickey didn’t speak for three days and each day wore on them. Mickey felt ten years older from the stress of it all. Out of the clear blue, she decided to forgive Mitch and they made up, staying in bed even though it meant missing a rehearsal. Having had their first blowup out of the way, Mitch and Mickey became the passionate, star struck couple they had been when they first met. They continued to win the hearts of many fans with not only their musical talent, but also their sincerity. Mickey enjoyed the rush she got backstage right before they went on. The sound of the crowd chanting, “Mickey! Mickey! Mitch! Mitch!” made her tingle with excitement. She loved being onstage in the sun playing for large crowds. It made her adrenaline soar and it showed in her singing voice. As always, she never took her eyes off Mitch when they performed and more recently, his eyes seemed to melt right back into hers. Their greatest moment onstage was always their sweet, climactic kiss toward the end of their song, “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow.”
The remainder of 1967 was like that for Mitch and Mickey. They were in a constant state of bliss as though everyday they were making up. That summer, their third album was released, titled When You’re Next to Me featuring Mitch and Mickey on the cover, each holding a red rose. The album was so full of genuine love and happiness in its upbeat folk melodies, that it was number one on the folk charts by Thanksgiving, bumping the Folksmen’s Wishin’ to number two. Irving Steinbloom and Richard Flanagan from Chameleon Records were quick to approach Mitch and Mickey after the fast success off When You’re Next to Me. They wanted Mitch and Mickey to do a live album from the Folk Place. Mitch and Mickey happily agreed and Mitch & Mickey: Live at the Folk Place was in record stores at the end of January 1968.
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Part 6: “Falling from Grace”
1968 was a lot like 1967 for Mitch and Mickey. They were touring and working on a new album at the same time. Since When You’re Next to Me had catapulted into number one, their schedule was doubled. In addition to their live performances and late nights in the studio there were record signings, interviews, pre parties, and after parties. An average nights sleep lasted five hours of morning, and starting the day hung over was becoming the norm. At every party there was champagne and neither Mitch nor Mickey could finish a glass without someone coming by with a full bottle to top it off again. They would stagger into their hotel room or their own bedroom if they were in New York, shed their clothes, and fall into bed. Often they would make love drunkenly, which ended up with them rolling off the bed and falling asleep on the floor amidst a pile of clothes that reeked of cigarette smoke from the night before. They learned to ignore the headaches that came upon waking up, to suck it up and drink some more coffee. In fact, their song “The Ballad of Bobby and June” was recorded during one of Mickey’s worst hangovers. She managed to ignore the throbbing in her temples and sing it beautifully.
In the summer of 1968, Mitch and Mickey did a guest spot on “Dick Beyman: Private Eye,” which was one of the most popular detective shows at the time. Millions of Mitch and Mickey fans tuned in for this. They soaked up Mitch’s dramatic facial expressions and Mickey’s defiant head rotations. It wasn’t long before the world was declaring, “I have never intentionally cut a power line IN MY LIFE!” attempting to imitate Mickey’s throaty French-Canadian accent. After the Dick Beyman appearance, Mitch and Mickey performed at the folk place in their clothes from the show just for fun. The audience loved every minute and that particular performance sold out faster than any they had ever done at the Folk Place. Female fans were crazy about Mitch’s black curls and mysterious eyes, and male fans were crazy about Mickey’s long legs that curved out from under her mini skirts and dresses into her white go-go boots. The leering made Mickey uncomfortable, so after performing in her psychedelic hot pants from her Dick Beyman appearance, she swapped the minis for denim bell-bottoms.
Mitch and Mickey’s marriage was far from the perfect thing everyone saw it as. The hectic schedule and the lack of sleep made them go at each other’s throats at least once a week. Mickey would scream at Mitch, and Mitch would walk out after Mickey threw something. There was always broken glass to clean up from Mickey’s destructive tantrums, so when things were calm, Mickey would put away anything valuable so that it would be out of her reach the next time she exploded. The fights always lasted until the following day and always ended with Mitch coming home and the passionate, forgiving kind of lovemaking that brought them the giddiness of newlyweds until the next big explosion.
It was after making up from one such fight that Mitch and Mickey took the photograph that was for the cover of their new album, due out in the fall of 1968. It was taken in the park where they had their first date back in 1964. They embraced a tree on either side and held hands in the middle. Their loving gaze in the picture was completely genuine. In the center of the tree trunk, Irving Steinbloom had an artist carve the words “together forever,” which was going to be the title of the album. After its release in November, Together Forever was at number one right before Christmas. Mitch and Mickey held the world in the palm of their hands, and everyone truly believed that when they said “forever” that was exactly what they meant. They were invited to party upon party to ring in 1969, but Mitch persuaded Irving Steinbloom to get them out of making appearances anywhere. Mitch and Mickey planned to spend New Year’s Eve in bed together with a bottle of wine. However, their plans didn’t exactly fall into place the way they wanted them to. The television in their bedroom showed the ball drop to ring in 1969 and millions of happy people celebrating in Time Square. Mitch and Mickey didn’t even get to see it; Mitch was too busy dodging the wine bottle Mickey had thrown at him.
The fight that began Mitch and Mickey’s new year was only the beginning. Together Forever had only been out for two months and already the pressure was on to get cracking on a new album. Mitch was frustrated because he couldn’t write with the quality he wanted to. This frustration only made Mickey edgy. The fights really began to escalade around April. Mickey would scream at Mitch over the littlest thing and Mitch, not wanting to listen to it, was constantly storming out of the apartment. He would usually start out by taking a walk to clear his mind and he would end up in the back room of some dive drowning his sorrows in pot. When Mitch would arrive home, he’d find Mickey sleeping fitfully, the glass from whatever she had thrown the night before still laying in shards on the floor. Mitch would clean it up and then fall exhaustedly into bed beside Mickey.
By the beginning of summer, Mitch and Mickey were making good progress on the songs for their album, but it was making them mad because the songs seemed half-assed to them, even though their producers said they sounded just fine. They fought about it at home in their kitchen. Mitch wanted to scrap the gigs and Mickey didn’t think that was fair.
“I want to concentrate more on my writing,” he explained, frustrated. “If we’re touring and playing the Folk Place every damn night we’re not going to have anything left in us to write new songs.”
“We were doing just fine the past two years!” Mickey yelled back. “We had two number one records! Things didn’t start going downhill until you started going God-knows-where and smoking pot that you don’t even know where it came from! It’s killing your brain cells, Mitch, and that’s why you can’t write the way you used to.”
Mitch slammed his fist on the counter. “Goddamn it, Mickey, I only started smoking pot to clear my head from your violent little throwing tantrums! Maybe if you learned to control yourself and stop acting like a psycho every time you don’t get your way…you’re like a spoiled child!”
“I’ll show you a spoiled child!” Mickey grabbed a coffee mug and threw it as hard as she could at Mitch. It hit the cabinet behind him, just missing his head, and broke into pieces.
“You’re crazy!” Mitch yelled. “I’m getting the hell out of here! I don’t know what blinded me to you and your violence after you started throwing things at your sister!”
“Get out!” Mickey screamed and threw a glass saltshaker at him. After Mitch left, slamming the door behind him, Mickey sunk down onto the floor, which was grainy from the salt that had come from the broken saltshaker. There was glass everywhere, but Mickey didn’t care. She held herself and the gulping sobs that came from her gave her an instant migraine and made her feel sick to her stomach. She should have known better then to make Mitch go. She should have just let him smoke all the pot he wanted and keep his little secret. Besides, she had her own secret from Mitch: Mickey was pregnant.
Mitch didn’t come home until late. He didn’t know how much more of Mickey’s tantrums he could take that made every little argument escalade into a screaming, glass-breaking fight. Therefore he just decided not to speak to her. With Mitch ignoring her, Mickey couldn’t tell him that she was pregnant. Besides, she was afraid to tell him. She knew she would have to before it became obvious, and abortion wasn’t even an option. Neither was adoption as far as Mickey was concerned. She was going to have Mitch’s baby, no matter how much she hated him sometimes. When the dust of her emotions cleared, she was still deeply in love with Mitch. Mitch felt the same. Although he wasn’t speaking to Mickey, he still loved her.
Things were getting worse because both of them were acting to proud to speak up. Mitch was always writing or off somewhere on his own. Mickey spent her mornings dry heaving with the shower on so that Mitch wouldn’t hear. As unhealthy as it was not only for her, but also for the baby, Mickey stopped eating. The nausea that waved through her every morning was half morning sickness, half nerves. She wanted to tell Mitch, but he was so good at ignoring her that it made her hurt even more so she’d end up making herself sick again. In late September, Mitch and Mickey’s seventh album, Over the Moon was released. Mickey was pleased with it, but Mitch wasn’t. Nothing on it was up to his potential, and apparently their fans felt the same way. The album only made it as high as 27 on the Billboard charts, and that was during its first 2 weeks because everyone was expecting another masterpiece.
Mitch and Mickey were speaking and trying to put things behind them, but Mickey was still afraid to tell Mitch that she was pregnant and she was already well into her third month. She wasn’t showing yet, and she decided she should try to eat more. She rarely ate anything at all since the summer started. Now it was fall. Mickey should never have put off telling Mitch that she was pregnant because in the end it was a decision that cost her dearly.
The details of the fight were sketchy for both Mitch and Mickey. Neither could remember how it started or what it was about. The only thing they remembered was a scene of horror. Mickey was screaming and throwing things at Mitch, and Mitch finally got so angry that he pushed Mickey hard. The next thing Mickey knew, she fell back against the wall and hard onto the floor and blood started gushing out of her. She wailed painfully and Mitch ran and knelt beside her.
“Mickey, what?”
“The baby, Mitch! Help me!” she sobbed. The sharp pain was more than Mickey could stand and the blood was running all over her legs.
Mitch felt like he could go into shock. “Baby?” he asked. “Mickey, are you pregnant?’
“Yes Mitch!” Mickey wailed. “We’ve gotta save the baby!”
Feeling almost paralyzed, Mitch called an ambulance to rush Mickey to the hospital. Mickey was hysterical, and as she was being loaded onto a stretcher, only one thought plagued Mitch’s mind: “I killed my baby.”
Mickey did lose the baby. The doctors said that the lack of nutrition in Mickey’s body made the fetus dangerously under developed, which is why she never started to show properly. She could have very well given birth to a stillborn or miscarried regardless. Mitch didn’t kill the baby, they assured. Things were different for Mitch and Mickey. They were given all the time off they needed, so working became an obsolete issue. Mitch was extremely patient with Mickey and did everything he could to make her comfortable. Mickey, on the other hand, was almost catatonic. There were days she wouldn’t get out of bed at all. The only time she let Mitch touch her was when she wanted held. It took a month for her to let Mitch kiss her. It took two more months for her to let Mitch make love to her. That part didn’t seem to feel right anymore. Mitch was slow and gentle with Mickey the way her was when they first met. He did everything he could to relax her and take away her hurt.
Winter of 1970 was coming to an end. Mitch and Mickey were trying to get back to working in the studio, but Mickey’s heart just wasn’t in it. Mitch had to make sure he was careful and didn’t lose patience with her. Nothing lasted. Mickey suddenly decided she was angry at the world, so she decided to take it out on Mitch one day in the studio. No one had ever seen Mitch and Mickey fight until this day. Mickey started screaming at Mitch about how he killed their baby and threw anything at him that she could get her hands on. Her final act was to pick up her brown Autoharp (the one we saw her play on Lee Aikman’s Folk Hour in 1966) and hurl it at Mitch. It was too heavy, so it missed and went clattering to the floor, the wood splitting in three places and breaking it for good. Mitch refused to stand there and listen to Mickey call him a murderer in so many words. He snapped and went completely off on her.
Mitch ended up packing his things and moving out within a few days. Mickey couldn’t stand to be in that apartment, so she moved back in with her sisters. Mitch and Mickey’s divorce was final by the end of 1970, as was everything else they shared. They wouldn’t even see each other again for 28 years.
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Part 7: “The Way We Are”
Going separate ways was the hardest thing Mitch and Mickey had ever done. Mickey refused to play music, which her sisters found disappointing because they had hoped to reconstruct the North Four. Mickey’s mind was a mess over everything. She went into a depression that ate up her whole 1971. All she could think about was Mitch and her lost baby. She felt like her mind had been ripped in two over its constant conflict of loving and hating Mitch.
“I’m never falling in love again. Ever,” she told Estelle one day. “It’s not worth the hurt that comes with it when it ends.”
“Oh Mickey.” Estelle put a comforting hand over her sister’s. “You know that it’s better to have loved and lost….”
“It’s better to have never loved at all than to know love’s pain,” Mickey interrupted. “It was like one minute I was wrapped up in happiness and my life was perfect. The next minute it’s all gone. What did I do wrong? I didn’t kill my baby.”
Estelle sighed. “Nobody killed your baby, Mickey, and you know that. It just happened that way. It wasn’t meant to be.”
“It’s just so unfair. I’m only twenty-four years old and I’ve been through more pain and everything else than anyone else my age.”
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but everything you experienced should be something you learn from.”
Tears started to roll down Mickey’s cheeks. “I learned that the words ‘I’ll love you forever’ are nothing but a big crock of shit.”
Mitch was dealing with his depression in a totally different way. He didn’t have anyone really close to him to talk to the way Mickey had her sisters. Rather than give up music, he embraced it with a different light. His songs were depressing ballads of worthlessness and anger. He wrote songs that—even though it wasn’t said outright—were about the anger he felt toward Mickey. “Anyone But You” and “May She Rot in Hell” were two of Mitch’s songs that outlined his hurt from Mickey and he really hoped that she would hear them so she would know what he had really wanted to say to her during all the times she was throwing glass at him.
Mitch released three albums, none of which did very well, but he didn’t care. For Mitch it was only about getting his pent up anger out. In 1973, Mitch’s last album Cry For Help contained the suicide letter-esque “If I Had a Gun.”
“I never killed the life within
That was taken unexpectedly
But if I had a gun
I would end the life of me.”It is clear that these words express Mitch’s anger at Mickey when she accused him of killing the baby. Upon the release of the album, Mitch checked himself into the Cherry Hill Psychiatric Hospital where he would spend the next year and a half of his life. It would help him tremendously, even though he would be a totally different man when he left in 1976. Mitch became very sullen and kept mostly to himself. He learned to let go of his anger toward Mickey and was able to continue his life quietly.
In 1977, Mickey turned thirty. She was still living in the same house outside of Greenwich Village with Estelle. Jocelyn and Claire had since gotten married and were starting families. Estelle and Mickey were perfectly content being on their own. Estelle had gone back to school after the North Four had broken up and received her R.N. The hospital where she worked was hosting a big health fair in the spring of 1977. Mickey decided to go for the simple fact that she was bored. She briefly stopped at each exhibit, nothing interesting her in the least. She completely bypassed the exhibit on the effects of illegal drugs because she didn’t want reminded of the acid Mitch had given her or the pot he reeked of when he came home after a fight. The exhibit beyond that was bladder management. Mickey, although uninterested, stopped to see what was going on.
“Have you ever seen a catheter before?” came a voice that startled Mickey. She turned to see a man smiling at her with kind eyes.
Mickey looked away. “Um, no.”
The man proceeded to explain how a catheter worked, but Mickey wasn’t even listening. Instead, she was smiling to herself and she couldn’t stop. She could feel those kind eyes on her and she knew that catheter use was the last thing this man wanted to be talking to her about.
Two weeks passed and Mickey had forgotten about the man at the catheter exhibit. She was having lunch a little diner in town when someone approached her table.
“So we meet again.”
Mickey looked up to see the man from the catheter exhibit smiling at her. She smiled back shyly and let him join her. His name was Leonard Crabbe and he was in the process of trying to launch his own bladder management product company. Mickey found him kind and stable, but she wasn’t interested in pursuing anything romantically with anyone. She turned down Leonard’s offer of dinner that night, but scrawled her number on a napkin for him before she left.
Leonard called Mickey almost everyday. Sometimes the conversation would last for two hours, other times it would only last five minutes. Mickey turned down all of Leonard’s offers to take her out, and still he called her every day. Estelle finally told Mickey she was being stupid and to go out with Leonard.
“He’s not Mitch,” she told Mickey. “In fact, he’s on such a different level than Mitch that the two levels don’t even know the other exists.”
Mickey had no idea what that meant, but she did accept Leonard’s offer of dinner for that Friday. It wasn’t bad at all. Leonard was a perfect gentleman. Estelle was right about the obvious differences between Mitch and Leonard. Mickey’s first date with Mitch was star struck love and losing her virginity behind a grassy hill. Her first date with Leonard was pleasant talk over dinner and Leonard timidly kissing her on the cheek before he said goodnight. She found herself attracted to Leonard’s shyness. After their next date, Leonard went to kiss Mickey on the cheek again, but Mickey held his face in her hands and kissed him deeply.
Leonard successfully launched Sure Flo, his bladder management product company in 1979 and to celebrate he proposed to Mickey. Mickey accepted and in 1981 they were married. Former folk musician Mickey Devlin was now Mickey Crabbe, happily living her quiet, chaos-free life with Leonard.
That was how life stayed until 1998 when Irving Steinbloom died. Irving’s son Jonathan was putting together a reunion concert as a tribute to his father and he wanted Mitch and Mickey to be a part of it. Mickey was fifty-one years old now and she had no issues with seeing Mitch again, so she told Jonathan that she would be happy to do the concert. It took some convincing, but Jonathan was able to get Mitch to agree.
Mitch and Mickey were very friendly toward one another and nothing from the past was ever brought up. Instead they worked on their music and caught up on each other’s lives. They planned to close with “Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” but they had no plans to actually kiss as they always had. When they rehearsed and came to the part where the kiss would normally happen, they would just look at each other and finish the song.
The night of the concert, Mitch gave Mickey a scare. He disappeared only moments before they were supposed to be onstage. The reason was that he wanted a rose to be onstage with them while they sang as it always had. Mickey was so flattered she could have kissed Mitch right there, but she contained herself. As they neared the end of “Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” Mitch leaned in and kissed Mickey softly, letting his lips linger on hers before shyly pulling away.
After the concert, Mickey was greeted backstage by her sisters. Jocelyn pulled her aside and said, “Mickey! You led him on! You shouldn’t have kissed him if you didn’t want to go all the way.”
Mickey realized that Jocelyn was being serious and she burst into laughter.
Mitch and Mickey remained friends after the concert. They talked on the phone about once a week, and Mickey invited Mitch to visit any time he wanted. As friends, they loved each other very much. As far as anything else, Mickey loved Leonard and was more than contented with their quiet life. However, she did write a song about Sure Flo and sang it at the health conventions Leonard went to, so that was her re-entry into being a musician again.
Mitch was happy with his friendship with Mickey and he would think of her fondly every time he saw a red rose.
THE END.
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