Mom sporting her Bob Seger shirt. |
She encouraged me to learn a musical instrument when I was a child because she didn't have that opportunity. I choose dance instead and I'm considering lessons now.
Saturday mornings was a favorite time in our home. We made homemade Pizza for lunch and watched American Bandstand hosted by Dick Clark and Soul Train hosted by Don Cornelius. The dance party was on! Mom, my brother and I would dance, sing and laugh. She often cranked up the tunes, danced while preparing meals and loved sharing her collection of eight tracks, records, cassettes or finding the right song on the radio. She has graduated to cds and Pandora now.
Growing up Mama always took me, my friends and cousins to concerts. This was not an easy treat due to where we lived. Everything was a minimum of an 90 minutes away or longer. She was criticized by another parent for doing so. I watched and listened to Rock and Roll when other kids were watching Sesame Street. Thanks Mama, I still don't like puppets and I turned out okay. Through the years, she drove many miles to take us to see Alabama, Journey, Guns and Roses, Poison, Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Metallica, Hank Williams, Jr., Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Duran Duran, Run D.M.C, Foreigner, ZZ Top, Blondie, Twisted Sister, Alan Jackson, Van Halen, Backstreet Boys, Boyz to Men, New Kids on the Block, Fat Boys, James Brown, The Temptations, The Coaster and The Drifters to name a few. She shares fond memories of seeing Elvis and didn't allow me to go to the KISS concert because I was to young. I'm now her chauffeur/escort to shows and we have seen Michael Buble and Sam Smith in the past few years. Pitbull is still on her list so stay tune.
Okay, so Mama has always been cooler than me and drives a cooler car. I would like to think that I have a little bit of the rebel, strength, preserverance and sass that she owns. Her short term memory maybe getting worse and life isn't always easy. These memories surrounded by music will always bring us JOY.
Music can bring up so many emotions and is often healing, freeing and an escape. What are your favorite musicians, tunes or memories? Do you hear a song that takes you back in time?
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” ― Plato