Thoughts on ONLY for NOW
1978-2024
For teens and people who love them.
There’s only 1 way to be 65 years old and resurrect a book written while you’re a teenager, about a teenager, for the teens you’ll one day have…
And that’s by being 65 years old and resurrecting a book you wrote as a teenager, about a teenager, for your kids, who weren’t born yet and NEED to know the Timeless Message.
With the sincerity of a kid THEIR age, YOUR teens can get much from “Only for Now”.
To set the tone, here are the Prelude and Epilogue from “Only for Now”.
If you want to share the idea that “growing up need not mean giving in”, read on and then get the book at AMAZON.
Godspeed! S
“Prelude to the Prelude”
from 11 September 2023
On a single, chilly January day in 1978, within the dimly-lit, barely-heated confines of Corpus Christi Church in Port Chester, New York, Only for Now poured out. The work emerged as a raw tale echoing life’s complexities. Self-published in 2004, its authenticity was deemed too potent—politically incorrect, and too intensely personal. Publishers wielded their editing pens, birthing a diluted version.
A second incarnation arose in 2011, cut back even further.
In 2023, after uploading another novel and discovering the new possibilities offered by the self-publishing platform, I revisited the past, resurrecting the unadulterated 1978 version. There are still several scenes permanently removed, dialogues and situations I deemed too harsh, too violent, and indeed, too deeply personal for something I had always intended to share with teens… and eventually my own children. However, after 48 years of working with high school students, I know that many will grasp the unsaid.
In 1978, came Only for Now, the novel for young adults of all ages.
In 1979, came the 9 movement suite entitled Only for Now, and premiered at M.I.T. in 1980.
That moment marked the beginning of a musical-literary odyssey, three more novels beckoning your attention, and a collection of 1,355 pieces (as of today) and counting.
The images that follow provide a way for you to travel back in Time and prepare yourself for the story of a 17 year-old in his first year at college.
Enjoy & Godspeed!
Stephen Melillo, Composer
A Message from Stephen Melillo on 11 September 2023
Epilogue & Epitaph & Prelude again!
My Grandfather died at age sixty-six. On that same date, my second Son was born. At 8:18:18, on 11 September 2001, my first Son was born. In 3 months, I too will be sixty-six. If you’re a kid, you might think 66 is old. Nah. Read on. This will strengthen you. Embolden you!
Just a few days ago, I uploaded my novel, Ahab, a Love Story. Please read it! One day prior to that, I had completed over 6 hours of narration, much with Musical scoring, to render Ahab as an Audio Book. Exhausted during the upload, I saw Only for Now. Rather than resting, I thought, “Hmm, with many years of new tech since my pencil-scripted writing of this novel, I should plow ahead and update this forgotten work!”
I had written the first draft of Only for Now in 19 hours at age 19, just 2 years after 17 year-old Stephen Rinaldi lived it in 1975-76. After 48 years, approaching half a century, this letter is more than an epilogue and a prelude. It may well be an epitaph. Please take it that way.
Mere days ago, my Son, Shafer, as if in some strange Timestorm spiral, left for his first year at college to attend marching band camp. Rediscovering Only for Now during the first days of his regular classes, was, to me, divinely aligned. You see, far in excess of mathematical coincidence, none of this rediscovery and backdating was planned.
Three years prior, my first Son, Spencer, born 24 minutes before the first tower was hit on 11 September 2001, also left for his first year at college and marching band camp. With Only for Now fresh in my mind, I saw Stephen’s Sons on a distant college campus. Wow. Timestorm. Circles. Spirals. What did I feel? Right now. Today.
In a word? Relief.
No matter what my kids faced at school, pandemic and all that aside, nothing could possibly be what Stephen Rinaldi faced. Or could it? Inside that is. They’re strong with hearts of gold. No—their battles will come in the not-too-distant future, and from external forces. Like each individual, each generation must face its own personal and collective bout with the yin and yang.
So what’s the Message? Is there something more to Only for Now besides its visceral, emotional outpouring? Something for my kids? Something for you?
Is Only for Now a forgiveness story? A faith story? What is it? What is the useful take-away?
After almost 50 years of Rinaldi-level-living, let me try an answer.
There are many layers to this and its connected literary and Musical works, but let’s consider “masks” as used in the 1978 novel and the use of “masks” during the recent pandemic. How different, but also, how prophetic. Timeless. Even “masks” took on another layer of meaning during the backdate! In re-reading the work, I relived the accurate/historic use of song titles, books, TV shows, terms like “women’s lib”, and other descriptors, dialogues, invectives, and interactions considered politically incorrect today. But— that’s how it was. That’s how we lived it in 1975 and 1976.
Well? How was it? What did we live?
Lenny Greenman wrote (in 1978), “There was something inside of him, something that age and the years ahead could never change.”
“I am the only me.”
Big takeaway. That sentence means that you are the only you. And, even more, you will always be you, that which is the core of you, the center of you, the indefatigable Soul of you that is singular and unaffected by BS.
Take strength from that!
Let this story serve to bolster you!
It’s not a ‘martial art’ story. It’s not a ‘boy’ story! It’s a Life Story for all of us. External forces are only half of it. What matters is the battle fought in your Heart. The world needs the you who wins that battle, the you that only YOU can be.
“How can anyone survive loneliness?” he wrote in his journal (1975). “Surely, it is the most harrowing of all human experiences…”
That brings us full circle to 1,355 (as of today) pieces of Music, the “Ahab” and “Death to Moby Dick” Love Stories, the many, worldwide teaching experiences, the ex-POWs, the innumerable losses and the few, though powerful good-times, the countless defeats and rare triumphs, and much more.
I can’t tell you how refreshing it is, how rejuvenating and vindicating it is to see written, in your own hand, the legacy of your own, Timeless Soul— written so many years ago and yet ever-constant.
And THAT is my wish for you, as you continue to write your story! Then, now, and always, take strength from who you are. Stay True to the you, that you KNOW you are despite a world that repeatedly tries to put you in a box, or redefine you, or kick you in another direction.
Some things are indeed— only for now, but other things, like your Soul and your beliefs and your desire to be an instrument of Good in the world, all matters of the heart that you must constantly discover and rediscover— those things — are only for always.
Godspeed!
Stephen Melillo
Composer
REVIEWS:
(from earlier versions on Amazon)
“I read and then reread this book in one sitting. There's something in it that resonates with people. It sure rang a bell inside of me. I recommend it highly.”
“Wow! What a read. All I can say is, it should be made into a motion picture, and I hope to do that one day. It's a great story.”
“Strong Message. This is a wonderful book for young people.. and anybody who wants their faith restored. There are many strong messages, all offered in an engaging way. The writing style makes it a fast read. You don't want to put the story down.”
“Only for Now - Always Now. Only for Now is about a turbulent time in a young man's life... His message, I believe, is Always Now. It's about turning the other cheek. It's about David vs. Goliath. It's about doing the absolute right thing - always now. Highly Recommended.”
“A book that must be read by everyone. This book is by far greater than any other book I have ever read. It shows how a single person can make their life better and have a major impact on the people around him. Once you start reading, you won't be able to put it down.”
“Relative to us all… This tale is truly wonderful. I believe that any individual on the pursuit of rhyme and reason in this reality, would be touched at how simply relative this story is to their life, to all of out lives. I will have finished it tomorrow, though I do plan to revisit quite soon. Thank you once again, old friend. Peace. -Che Peace.”
“Touching. I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys a story of truth and devotion. Its turns and twists will keep your body at the edge of its seat and your heart in the hands of the main character. And for anyone who has had the pleasure of knowing Stephen Melillo, it will just mean that much more. Thank you, Steve, for sharing your heart and story.”
This is how it should be… This is perhaps one of the best books I've yet to read. This book has it all and to believe that it all happened and when you know Steve it's just amazing! The book had me trying to read faster and faster because of all the suspense and I couldn't even bare to wait to see what happened. Your heart gets tossed and turned at such an amazing story. These kinds of books are the ones I wish I had read in high school!"
“The Man in the Boy becomes the Boy in the Man. I'm on my third reading of this wonderful book. Watching the main character as he battles the evil forces around him leads me to my own introspection. The Boy has the Man inside and the Man has the Boy inside. There is no Time where the Soul is concerned, says a Chinese proverb, and this is made evident even in our own lives. Truly a great read!”