Today's NaBloPoMo is absolutely killer. I'm confident I can't tackle it in a way to even begin to do it justice.
What is your favorite band or musician?
I don't even know where to begin with this. Music is and always has been such an enormous part of my life. I don't think I could ever narrow down to a single band or musician.
I'll try to give you a short walk through of what I mean.
I grew up in a house that was never quiet. Something was always on, radio or TV. True confession, I much prefer the radio to the TV, but silence has it's place too.
Anyway, back to the music memories.
Some of my very earliest childhood memories are of me, my mom and the music. I was born in 71 so that should begin to time line for you what I was hearing.
The most prominent memories for me are of being in the basement sewing room with my mom working on something, probably my clothes, me playing on the floor and music. I'm betting it was 60's music, knowing my mom, but I couldn't tell you for certain. Maybe it was some 70's stuff. The next memory is similar. It's my mom at the kitchen table in our first house in the Falls, painting. A long time ago she painted.
My next memories are when I'm a little older. They are of large family camping vacations. Those long killer drives listening to cassettes and 8-tracks. Oh. My. Oak Ridge Boys. Beach Boys. Mamas and Papas. Simon and Garfunkel. I might just know every word to every song on certain Simon and Garfunkel albums.
At the camp ground it was my grandma and Elvis. And there wasn't a "bad moon on the rise", just a "bathroom on the right". We laughed over that for years and years.
We move into late elementary school and middle school. Roller skating. Olivia Newton John. Grease. Xanadu. Pink Floyd. Madonna. Quiet Riot. Twisted Sister. Culture Club.
Yeah. I had a bit of an eclectic taste back then.
Oh wait. I still do. The wider the variety the better.
High school. It was the 80's. Forgive me. Oh the songs of the days of my high school life. Just the first notes of so many songs take me back to so many moments. Dear sweet high school friends, indulge my comment box and share your memories with me.
Air Supply. Chicago. Phill Collins. Billy Joel. Elton John. Richard Marx. Wham. Rod Stewart. TOTO. Tina Turner. Cyndi Lauper. Simply Red. Pet Shop Boys. Thompson Twins. Go Go's. Flock of Seagulls.
Oh. My. I have to stop. I could do this all day.
The 20's were something for me. Lots of drama and big life changes and ups and downs. In those years I married, miscarried, almost divorced, pulled it all back together, went to college, quit college, went to college again, worked in sales, managed a store, worked in an office and moved about 6 times. I partied a lot of those years away. They were good years and bad years all in one. They are a part of me. A part of my story and a part of what made me who I am.
And you know what?
Warts and scars and wrinkles and grays and all...I really like who I turned out to be. I like who I am continually growing into. Sometimes it's a struggle, growth is, but it's worth it.
But back to the music.
The 20's were the concert years for me. I saw some amazing shows. Some were big shows with stupidly expensive ticket prices, but back then, in the phase of double income no kids life, it was no big deal. Some of the shows were big name bands who lost their fame and now were on the county fair circuit.
These were the Lillith Fair years. Tina Turner and Cyndi Lauper in the same concert. That one was amazing. Sarah McLachlan over and over.
And what can I tell you about the next decade? Not much. In the years between 2001 and 2010 I guess I just got stuck. I was Googling through the hits of those years and I don't know any. Or at least I don't know any from then. I know a bunch of the songs now, but it's only because I have young friends that drag me kicking and screaming--not really :)--into this modern age.
In that decade I had babies. Autism touched our lives. The Mr. changed jobs and we moved. We became foster parents. I guess I was just deep in the middle of that stretch of life. Not bad, but I don't think I looked up much.
Those were also the years I was trying to find my identity in Christ. Sometimes when you become a believer it messes with your head a little bit. I'll blog about that some other day. For now, just tuck it into your mind that it took me awhile to find myself again in this new label.
But now, I'm closing in on 40. Another decade is beginning.
And music is again a life line. It's like air and water. I can't get enough. The old favorites from time gone by and the new favorites that solidify moments of this life in my memory, my heart. This crazy life is flying by and I don't want to miss a single second of it bogged down in garbage.
Putting a sound track to my life helps me to keep the right mindset, to keep moving. Music moves my heart like nothing else. That's what it's supposed to do, but you have to let it. It helps to me to remember to look up, look out, look back. To just suck in every single second and savor it down to the last drop.
This life is this good. Even in it's darkest moments, it really is this good.
